Transfer of television programs from channel-specific files to program-specific files

ABSTRACT

A television receiver including a tuner and one or more processors may be presented. The television receiver may be configured to tune the tuner to a television channel. The television receiver may be configured to create and store an omnibus channel file containing a plurality of television programs broadcast consecutively on the television channel over a period of time. The television receiver may be configured to, after a predefined period of time, select the omnibus channel file for deletion. The television receiver may be configured to determine a television program to receive extended storage. The television receiver may be configured to store a portion of the omnibus channel file as an individual program file, wherein the portion of the omnibus channel file corresponds to the television program. The television receiver may be configured to, after storing the portion of the omnibus channel file, delete the omnibus channel file.

CROSS-REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This Application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.13/793,636, filed Mar. 11, 2013, entitled “Transfer of TelevisionPrograms From Channel-Specific Files To Program-Specific Files”,attorney docket number P2012-08-07 (848967), which claims priority toU.S. provisional application 61/611,483, filed Mar. 15, 2012, entitled“Reception, Recording, Storage, and Manipulation of Multiple TelevisionChannels”, attorney docket number P2012-03-02 (834040), the entiredisclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference for allpurposes.

BACKGROUND

The advent of the digital video recorder (DVR) and the availability ofhigh-capacity computer-readable storage devices at reasonable priceshave made available many possibilities to television programming serviceproviders and television viewers alike. In recent years, televisionviewers have come to expect the ability to easily customize and managethe recording of television programming via their television receivers.

SUMMARY

In some embodiments, a television receiver is presented. The televisionreceiver may include a tuner. The television receiver may include one ormore processors. The television receiver may include a non-transitorycomputer-readable storage medium communicatively coupled with andreadable by the one or more processors and having stored thereinprocessor-readable instructions. When executed by the one or moreprocessors, the instructions may cause the one or more processors totune the tuner to a television channel. The instructions may cause theone or more processors to create and store an omnibus channel filecontaining a plurality of television programs broadcast consecutively onthe television channel over a period of time. The instructions may causethe one or more processors to, after a predefined period of time, selectthe omnibus channel file for deletion. The instructions may cause theone or more processors to determine a television program of theplurality of television programs that is to receive extended storage.The instructions may cause the one or more processors to store a portionof the omnibus channel file as an individual program file, wherein theportion of the omnibus channel file corresponds to the televisionprogram of the plurality of television programs. The instructions maycause the one or more processors to, after storing the portion of theomnibus channel file, delete the omnibus channel file.

Embodiments of such a television receiver may include one or more of thefollowing: The instructions may cause the one or more processors toreceive a user-provided indication that requests extended storage of thetelevision program of the plurality of television programs. Theprocessor-readable instructions, which are configured to cause the oneor more processors to determine the television program of the pluralityof television programs that is to receive extended storage may use theuser-provided indication in performing the determination. Theprocessor-readable instructions, which are configured to cause the oneor more processors to record the omnibus channel file containing theplurality of television programs broadcast consecutively on thetelevision channel over the period of time to the non-transitorycomputer-readable storage medium, may be further configured to cause theomnibus channel file to be recorded to a first folder of thenon-transitory computer-readable storage medium; and theprocessor-readable instructions, which are configured to cause the oneor more processors to store the portion of the omnibus channel file asthe individual program file, may be further configured to cause theindividual program file to be stored to a second folder of thenon-transitory computer-readable storage medium. The processor-readableinstructions, which are configured to cause the one or more processorsto tune the tuner to the television channel, may be further configuredto cause the tuner to tune to a transponder stream comprising packetizeddata for a plurality of television channels that comprises thetelevision channel.

Additionally or alternatively, embodiments of such a television receivermay include one or more of the following: The instructions may cause theone or more processors to record omnibus channel files for eachtelevision channel of the plurality of television channels over theperiod of time. The instructions may cause the one or more processors tomaintain a catalog database stored by the non-transitorycomputer-readable storage medium, wherein the catalog databaseindicates: a plurality of omnibus channel files stored by the televisionreceiver; and a plurality of television program identifiers, whereineach television program identifier of the plurality of televisionprogram identifiers corresponds to a television program that is storedwithin the plurality of omnibus channel files. The catalog database mayfurther indicate a plurality of byte offsets, wherein each byte offsetis linked to a television program identifier of the plurality oftelevision program identifiers. Each byte offset may indicate a numberof bytes preceding a designated start point of a television programwithin an omnibus channel file of the plurality of omnibus channelfiles, wherein the designated start point is based on an electronicprogramming guide event transition.

Additionally or alternatively, embodiments of such a television receivermay include one or more of the following: The instructions may cause theone or more processors to, while recording the omnibus channel file,when an electronic programming guide event transition corresponding tothe television program occurs, determine a byte offset within theomnibus channel file corresponding to the television program using afile size determination of the omnibus channel file. The instructionsmay cause the one or more processors to create a non-segmented omnibusbookmark file linked with the omnibus channel file, wherein thenon-segmented omnibus bookmark file indicates: electronic programmingguide information for each television program within the omnibus channelfile; and packet identifiers for audio and video streams within theomnibus channel file. The instructions may cause the one or moreprocessors to delete the omnibus bookmark file from the non-transitorycomputer-readable storage medium when deleting the omnibus channel filefrom the non-transitory computer-readable storage medium. Theinstructions may cause the one or more processors to, after creating thenon-segmented omnibus bookmark file, create a segmented bookmark file.The segmented bookmark file may identify a plurality of segments withinthe omnibus channel file identified by the television distributionservice provider. Each segment of the plurality of segments may bedefined based on a positive frame offset and a negative frame offsetfrom a frame that corresponds to a string of characters being present inclosed captioning data. The instructions may cause the one or moreprocessors to determine if an omnibus bookmark file exists for thetelevision program to receive extended storage. The processor-readableinstructions which, when executed by the one or more processors, may beconfigured to cause the one or more processors to store the portion ofthe omnibus channel file to the individual program file, are furtherconfigured to: based on the segmented bookmark file existing, define thestart and end of the portion based on the segmented bookmark file.

In some embodiments, a method for storing a television program ispresented. The method may include tuning, by a television receiver, atuner to a television channel. The method may include creating andstoring, by the television receiver, an omnibus channel file containinga plurality of television programs broadcast consecutively on thetelevision channel over a period of time. The method may include, aftera predefined period of time, selecting, by the television receiver, theomnibus channel file for deletion. The method may include determining,by the television receiver, a television program of the plurality oftelevision programs that is to receive extended storage. The method mayinclude storing, by the television receiver, a portion of the omnibuschannel file as an individual program file, wherein the portion of theomnibus channel file corresponds to the television program of theplurality of television programs. The method may include, after storingthe portion of the omnibus channel file, deleting, by the televisionreceiver, the omnibus channel file.

Embodiments of such a method may include one or more of the following:The method may include receiving, by the television receiver, auser-provided indication that requests extended storage of thetelevision program of the plurality of television programs. Determiningthe television program of the plurality of television programs that isto receive extended storage may comprise using the user-providedindication in performing the determination. Recording the omnibuschannel file containing the plurality of television programs broadcastconsecutively on the television channel over the period of time to thenon-transitory computer-readable storage medium, may include causing theomnibus channel file to be recorded to a first folder of thenon-transitory computer-readable storage medium. The method may includestoring the portion of the omnibus channel file as the individualprogram file comprises causing the individual program file to be storedto a second folder of the non-transitory computer-readable storagemedium. Tuning the tuner to the television channel may include tuning toa transponder stream comprising packetized data for a plurality oftelevision channels that comprises the television channel. The methodmay further include recording omnibus channel files for each televisionchannel of the plurality of television channels over the period of time.The method may include maintaining, by the television receiver, acatalog database stored by the non-transitory computer-readable storagemedium, wherein the catalog database indicates: a plurality of omnibuschannel files stored by the television receiver; and a plurality oftelevision program identifiers, wherein each television programidentifier of the plurality of television program identifierscorresponds to a television program that is stored within the pluralityof omnibus channel files.

Additionally or alternatively, embodiments of such a method may includeone or more of the following: The catalog database may further indicatea plurality of byte offsets, wherein each byte offset is linked to atelevision program identifier of the plurality of television programidentifiers. Each byte offset may indicate a number of bytes preceding adesignated start point of a television program within an omnibus channelfile of the plurality of omnibus channel files, wherein the designatedstart point is based on an electronic programming guide eventtransition. The method may include, while recording the omnibus channelfile, when an electronic programming guide event transitioncorresponding to the television program occurs, determining a byteoffset within the omnibus channel file corresponding to the televisionprogram using a file size determination of the omnibus channel file. Themethod may include creating, by the television receiver, a non-segmentedomnibus bookmark file linked with the omnibus channel file, wherein thenon-segmented omnibus bookmark file indicates: electronic programmingguide information for each television program within the omnibus channelfile; and packet identifiers for audio and video streams within theomnibus channel file. The method may include deleting, by the televisionreceiver, the omnibus bookmark file from the non-transitorycomputer-readable storage medium when deleting the omnibus channel filefrom the non-transitory computer-readable storage medium. The method mayinclude, after creating the non-segmented omnibus bookmark file,creating, by the television receiver, a segmented bookmark file,wherein: the segmented bookmark file identifies a plurality of segmentswithin the omnibus channel file identified by the televisiondistribution service provider.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

A further understanding of the nature and advantages of variousembodiments may be realized by reference to the following figures. Inthe appended figures, similar components or features may have the samereference label. Further, various components of the same type may bedistinguished by following the reference label by a dash and a secondlabel that distinguishes among the similar components. If only the firstreference label is used in the specification, the description isapplicable to any one of the similar components having the same firstreference label irrespective of the second reference label.

FIG. 1 illustrates an embodiment of a satellite television distributionsystem.

FIG. 2 illustrates an embodiment of a television receiver that isconfigured to extract a television program from a recorded omnibuschannel file.

FIG. 3 illustrates an embodiment of a digital video recorder managingmultiple storage arrangements.

FIG. 4 illustrates an embodiment of a graphical representation ofextraction of a television program from an omnibus channel file.

FIG. 5 illustrates another embodiment of a graphical representation ofextraction of a television program from an omnibus channel file.

FIG. 6 illustrates an embodiment of a method for extracting a televisionprogram from an omnibus channel file.

FIG. 7 illustrates another embodiment of a method for extracting atelevision program from an omnibus channel file.

FIG. 8 illustrates an embodiment of a computer system.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

A television viewer, referred to as a user, may use a stand-alone orintegrated digital video recorder (DVR) to record broadcast televisionprogramming for viewing at a later time. In some situations, rather thanrecording individual television programs, a television channel may berecorded for a period of time, such as during primetime (which may befrom 8-10 PM, 7-9 PM, 7-10PM, etc.). The recording of a televisionchannel for such a period of time may be defined by the televisionservice provider. During this period of time which the televisionchannel is recorded, multiple television programs may be broadcast onthe television channel. For example, sitcoms may tend to be scheduledfor thirty minutes, including commercials; dramas may tend to bescheduled for an hour including commercials. Recording of a televisionchannel, such as during primetime, for multiple hours, may result in twoor more, possibly six, television programs being recorded.

In some embodiments, rather than a single television channel beingrecorded at a given time, multiple, such as four, television channelsmay be recorded over a given time period. For example, during weekdayprimetime hours, all of the major networks may be simultaneouslyrecorded for the same period of time. Such recording may permit a userto view any television program that was broadcast during primetime onone of the major networks at a later time.

Whether a single or multiple television channels are recordedsimultaneously, it may be efficient to record a single file for eachtelevision channel, with the single file storing multiple televisionprograms broadcast on the television channel during the recording. As anexample, if “Network 1” is recorded for 2 hours, a single file may berecorded and stored, with the single file containing each of thetelevision programs broadcast during the period of time recorded.

While, perhaps ideally, the recorded television programs would be storedand available for playback indefinitely, storage limitations at theuser's DVR may necessitate that, as additional television programming isrecorded, other television programming be deleted. As an example, ifprimetime television programming is recorded on each weekday night, itmay be efficient to only store the television programming for apredefined period of time, such as the past two weeks. After this timeperiod, unless indicated by a user, the television programming may bedeleted. As such, at any given time, a user may have access to theprevious two weeks of television programming on television stationsrecorded during primetime (or some other predefined period of time). Thetelevision channels, the dates, and the time period during whichmultiple television channels are recorded into channel-specific filesmay be defined by a television service provider (e.g., satellitetelevision service provider, cable television service provider, IPtelevision service provider). The storage arrangement on which thechannel-specific files are stored may be devoted to recordings madebased on a configuration by the television service provider.

During the period of time when the television programs are stored inchannel-specific files, a user may be permitted to individually selectand watch any of the television programs contained in thechannel-specific files. At the end of a predetermined period of time,such as two weeks, the channel-specific file associated with atelevision channel may be selected for deletion. However, within thisfile, may be one or more television programs that a user desires tocontinue to store for possible viewing at a later time. Such televisionprograms may be indicated by the user and may continue to be stored.

When the channel-specific file is to be deleted, one or more televisionprograms within the channel-specific file may be transferred to auser-managed storage arrangement, such as a different storage device(e.g., a separate hard drive), a different folder residing on a storagedevice, or a separate partition (e.g., a separate partition of a harddrive used to store to the channel-specific files). The portion of thechannel-specific file corresponding to the television program may betransferred (e.g., copied, moved) to the storage arrangement managed bythe user. Once transferred, the television program selected by the usermay be maintained indefinitely (e.g., until the user selects thetelevision program for deletion). In the user-managed storagearrangement, television programs may be stored in individual files foreach television program, while in the television service providermanaged partition, television programs may be stored in televisionchannel-specific files that contain multiple television programsbroadcast consecutively.

In addition to the audio and video of television programs being storedin television channel-specific files (and being transferred toprogram-specific files on another storage arrangement at the discretionof a user), other files may be maintained similarly. For instance,non-segmented bookmark files and segmented bookmark files, as definedand detailed in this document, may be managed to permit a transitionbetween channel-specific files and program-specific files.

FIG. 1 illustrates an embodiment of a satellite television distributionsystem 100. While embodiments detailed herein may be applied to varioustelevision distribution systems, including cable and IP, a satellitetelevision distribution system is provided as an example. Satellitetelevision distribution system 100 may include: television serviceprovider system 110, satellite transmitter equipment 120, satellites130, satellite dish 140, television receiver 150, and display device160. Alternate embodiments of satellite television distribution system100 may include fewer or greater numbers of components. While only onesatellite dish 140, television receiver 150, and display device 160(collectively referred to as “user equipment”) are illustrated, itshould be understood that multiple (e.g., tens, thousands, millions)instances of user equipment may receive television signals fromsatellites 130.

Television service provider system 110 and satellite transmitterequipment 120 may be operated by a television service provider. Atelevision service provider may distribute television channels,on-demand programming, programming information, and/or other services tousers. Television service provider system 110 may receive feeds of oneor more television channels from various sources. Such televisionchannels may include multiple television channels that contain the samecontent (but may be in different formats, such as high-definition andstandard-definition). To distribute such television channels to users,feeds of the television channels may be relayed to user equipment viaone or more satellites via transponder streams. Satellite transmitterequipment 120 may be used to transmit a feed of one or more televisionchannels from television service provider system 110 to one or moresatellites 130. While a single television service provider system 110and satellite transmitter equipment 120 are illustrated as part ofsatellite television distribution system 100, it should be understoodthat multiple instances of transmitter equipment may be used, possiblyscattered geographically to communicate with satellites 130. Suchmultiple instances of satellite transmitting equipment may communicatewith the same or with different satellites. Different televisionchannels may be transmitted to satellites 130 from different instancesof transmitting equipment. For instance, a different satellite dish ofsatellite transmitter equipment 120 may be used for communication withsatellites in different orbital slots.

Satellites 130 may be configured to receive signals, such as streams oftelevision channels, from one or more satellite uplinks such assatellite transmitter equipment 120. Satellites 130 may relay receivedsignals from satellite transmitter equipment 120 (and/or other satellitetransmitter equipment) to multiple instances of user equipment viatransponder streams. Different frequencies may be used for uplinksignals 170 from transponder stream 180. Satellites 130 may be ingeosynchronous orbit. Each satellite 130 may be in a different orbitalslot, such that the signal paths between each satellite, transmitterequipment, and user equipment vary. Multiple satellites 130 may be usedto relay television channels from television service provider system 110to satellite dish 140. Different television channels may be carriedusing different satellites. Different television channels may also becarried using different transponders of the same satellite; thus, suchtelevision channels may be transmitted at different frequencies and/ordifferent frequency ranges. As an example, a first and second televisionchannel may be carried on a first transponder of satellite 130-1. Athird, fourth, and fifth television channel may be carried using adifferent satellite or a different transponder of the same satelliterelaying the transponder stream at a different frequency. A transponderstream transmitted by a particular transponder of a particular satellitemay include a finite number of television channels, such as seven.Accordingly, if many television channels are to be made available forviewing and recording, multiple transponder streams may be necessary totransmit all of the television channels to the instances of userequipment.

Satellite dish 140 may be a piece of user equipment that is used toreceive transponder streams from one or more satellites, such assatellites 130. Satellite dish 140 may be provided to a user for use ona subscription basis to receive television channels provided by thetelevision service provider system 110, satellite transmitter equipment120, and/or satellites 130. Satellite dish 140 may be configured toreceive transponder streams from multiple satellites and/or multipletransponders of the same satellite. Satellite dish 140 may be configuredto receive television channels via transponder streams on multiplefrequencies. Based on the characteristics of television receiver 150and/or satellite dish 140, it may only be possible to capturetransponder streams from a limited number of transponders concurrently.For example, a tuner of television receiver 150 may only be able to tuneto a single transponder stream from a transponder of a single satelliteat a time.

In communication with satellite dish 140 may be one or more sets ofreceiving equipment. Receiving equipment may be configured to decodesignals received from satellites 130 via satellite dish 140 for displayon a display device, such as display device 160. Receiving equipment,including a television receiver, may be incorporated as part of atelevision or may be part of a separate device, commonly referred to asa set-top box (STB). Receiving equipment may include a satellite tunerconfigured to receive television channels via a satellite. In FIG. 1,receiving equipment is present in the form of television receiver 150.As such, television receiver 150 may decode signals received viasatellite dish 140 and provide an output to display device 160. FIG. 2provides additional detail of a television receiver. A televisionreceiver is defined to include set-top boxes (STBs) and circuitry havingsimilar functionality that may be incorporated with another device. Forinstance, circuitry similar to that of a television receiver may beincorporated into a television. As such, while FIG. 1 illustrates anembodiment of television receiver 150 as separate from display device160, it should be understood that in other embodiments, similarfunctions may be performed by a television receiver integrated withdisplay device 160.

Display device 160 may be used to present video and/or audio decoded bytelevision receiver 150. Television receiver 150 may also output adisplay of one or more interfaces to display device 160, such as anelectronic programming guide (EPG). Display device 160 may be atelevision. In some embodiments, a display device other than atelevision may be used, such as a monitor.

Uplink signal 170-1 represents a signal between satellite transmitterequipment 120 and satellite 130-1. Uplink signal 170-2 represents asignal between satellite transmitter equipment 120 and satellite 130-2.Each of uplink signals 170 may contain streams of one or more differenttelevision channels. For example, uplink signal 170-1 may contain acertain group of television channels, while uplink signal 170-2 containsa different grouping of television channels. Each of these televisionchannels may be scrambled such that unauthorized persons are preventedfrom accessing the television channels.

Transponder stream 180-1 represents a signal between satellite 130-1 andsatellite dish 140. Transponder stream 180-2 represents a signal pathbetween satellite 130-2 and satellite dish 140. Each of transponderstreams 180 may contain one or more different television channels in theform of transponder streams, which may be at least partially scrambled.For example, transponder stream 180-1 may include a first transponderstream containing a first group of television channels, whiletransponder stream 180-2 may include a second transponder streamcontaining a different group of television channels. A satellite maytransmit multiple transponder streams to user equipment. For example, atypical satellite may relay thirty-two transponder streams viacorresponding transponders to user equipment. Further, spot beams arepossible. For example, a satellite may be able to transmit a transponderstream to a particular geographic region (e.g., to distribute localtelevision channels to the relevant market). Different televisionchannels may be transmitted using the same frequency of the transponderstream to a different geographic region.

FIG. 1 illustrates transponder stream 180-1 and transponder stream 180-2being received by satellite dish 140. For a first group of televisionchannels, satellite dish 140 may receive a transponder stream oftransponder stream 180-1; for a second group of channels, a transponderstream of transponder stream 180-2 may be received, television receiver150 may decode the received transponder stream. As such, depending onwhich television channel(s) are desired, a transponder stream from adifferent satellite (or a different transponder of the same satellite)may be accessed and decoded by television receiver 150. Further, whiletwo satellites are present in satellite television distribution system100, in other embodiments greater or fewer numbers of satellites may bepresent for receiving and transmitting transponder streams to userequipment.

Network 190 may serve as a secondary communication channel betweentelevision service provider system 110 and television receiver 150. Viasuch a secondary communication channel, bidirectional exchange of datamay occur. As such, data may be transmitted to television serviceprovider system 110 via network 190. Data may also be transmitted fromtelevision service provider system 110 to television receiver 150 vianetwork 190. Network 190 may be the Internet. While audio and videoservices may be provided to television receiver 150 via satellites 130,feedback from television receiver 150 to television service providersystem 110 may be transmitted via network 190.

FIG. 1 illustrates an example of a satellite-based television channeldistribution system. It should be understood that at least some of theaspects of such a system may be similar to a cable televisiondistribution system. For example, in a cable television system, ratherthan using satellite transponders, multiple RF channels on a cable maybe used to transmit streams of television channels. As such, aspectsdetailed herein may be applicable to cable television distributionsystems.

FIG. 2 illustrates an embodiment of television receiver 200, which maytypically be in the form of a separate device configured to be connectedwith a presentation device, such as a television. Embodiments oftelevision receiver 200 may include set top boxes (STBs). As previouslynoted, in addition to being in the form of an STB, a television receivermay be incorporated into another device, such as a television. Forexample, a television may have an integrated television receiver (whichdoes not involve an external STB being coupled with the television). ASTB may contain some or all of the components of television receiver 200and/or may be able to perform some or all of the functions of televisionreceiver 200. Accordingly, instances in this document referring to a STBand steps being performed by a STB may also be performed, moregenerally, by a television receiver.

FIG. 2 illustrates a block diagram of an embodiment of televisionreceiver 200 that is configured to record omnibus channel files andextract a television program from a recorded omnibus channel file.Television receiver 200 may be television receiver of FIG. 1 and may bein the form of a STB that communicates with a display device such as atelevision. Television receiver 200 may be incorporated as part of atelevision, such as display device 160 of FIG. 1. Television receiver200 may include: processors 210 (which may include control processor210-1 and tuning management processor 210-2), tuners 215, networkinterface 220, non-transitory computer-readable storage medium 225,electronic programming guide (EPG) database 230, television interface235, catalog database 270, networking information table (NIT) 240,digital video recorder (DVR) database 245, user interface 250, PIDfilters 255, smart card 260, and/or descrambling engine 265. In otherembodiments of television receiver 200, fewer or greater numbers ofcomponents may be present. It should be understood that the variouscomponents of television receiver 200 may be implemented using hardware,firmware, software, and/or some combination thereof. Functionality ofcomponents may be combined; for example, functions of descramblingengine 265 may be performed by tuning management processor 210-2.Further, functionality of components may be spread among additionalcomponents; for example, PID filters 255 may be handled by separatehardware from program management table 257.

Processors 210 may include one or more specialized and/orgeneral-purpose processors configured to perform processes such astuning to a particular channel, accessing and displaying EPG informationfrom EPG database 230, and/or receiving and processing input from auser. For example, processors 210 may include one or more processorsdedicated to decoding video signals from a particular format, such asMPEG, for output and display on a television and for performingdecryption. It should be understood that the functions performed byvarious modules of FIG. 2 may be performed using one or more processors.As such, for example, functions of descrambling engine 265 may beperformed by control processor 210-1.

Control processor 210-1 may communicate with tuning management processor210-2. Control processor 210-1 may control the recording of televisionchannels based on timers stored in DVR database 245 or in a separatefile structure by storage medium 225 (e.g., a file may be used to storeindications of each type of time). Control processor 210-1 may initiaterecording of a television channel by sending a record command along withan indication of the television channel to be recorded to tuningmanagement processor 210-2. Control processor 210-1 may not send asecond record command (if additional recording is to begin at the sametime) until an acknowledgement that recording of the first televisionchannel has successfully been received and initiated by tuningmanagement processor 210-2. Control processor 210-1 may also providecommands to tuning management processor 210-2 when recording of atelevision channel is to cease. In addition to providing commandsrelating to the recording of television channels, control processor210-1 may provide commands to tuning management processor 210-2 thatindicate television channels to be output to audio/video decoder 233 foroutput to a presentation device, such as a television.

Control processor 210-1 may also communicate with network interface 220and user interface 250. Control processor 210-1 may handle in-comingdata from network interface 220 and user interface 250. Additionally,control processor 210-1 may be configured to output data via networkinterface 220.

Tuners 215 may include one or more tuners used to tune to televisionchannels, such as television channels transmitted via satellite orcable. In the illustrated embodiment of television receiver 200, threetuners are present (tuner 215-1, tuner 215-2, and tuner 215-3). Eachtuner contained in tuners 215 may be capable of receiving and processinga single stream of data from a satellite transponder (or a cable RFchannel) at a given time. As such, a single tuner may tune to a singletransponder (or, for a cable network, a single cable RF channel). Iftuners 215 include multiple tuners, one tuner may be used to tune to atelevision channel on a first transponder stream for display using atelevision, while another tuner may be used to tune to a televisionchannel on a second transponder for recording and viewing at some othertime. Still another tuner may be used to check various televisionchannels to determine if they are available or not. If multipletelevision channels transmitted on the same transponder stream aredesired, a single tuner of tuners 215 may be used to receive the signalcontaining the multiple television channels for presentation and/orrecording. Tuners 215 may receive commands from tuning managementprocessor 210-2. Such commands may instruct tuners 215 which frequenciesare to be used for tuning.

Network interface 220 may be used to communicate via an alternatecommunication channel with a television service provider. For example,the primary communication channel may be via satellite (which may beunidirectional to the STB) and the alternate communication channel(which may be bidirectional) may be via a network, such as the Internet.Referring back to FIG. 1, television receiver 150 may be able tocommunicate with television service provider system 110 via a network,such as the Internet. This communication may be bidirectional: data maybe transmitted from television receiver 150 to television serviceprovider system 110 and from television service provider system 110 totelevision receiver 150. Referring back to FIG. 2, network interface 220may be configured to communicate via one or more networks, such as theInternet, to communicate with television service provider system 110 ofFIG. 1. Information may be transmitted and/or received via networkinterface 220.

Storage medium 225 may represent a non-transitory computer-readablestorage medium. Storage medium 225 may include memory and/or a harddrive. Storage medium 225 may be used to store information received fromone or more satellites and/or information received via network interface220. Storage medium 225 may store information related to EPG database230, NIT 240, and/or DVR database 245. Recorded television programs maybe stored using storage medium 225. Storage medium 225 may bepartitioned or otherwise divided such that predefined amounts of storagemedium 225 are devoted to storage of omnibus channel files anduser-selected television programs.

EPG database 230 may store information related to television channelsand the timing of programs appearing on such television channels. EPGdatabase 230 may be stored using storage medium 225, which may be a harddrive. Information from EPG database 230 may be used to inform users ofwhat television channels or programs are popular and/or providerecommendations to the user. Information from EPG database 230 mayprovide the user with a visual interface displayed by a television thatallows a user to browse and select television channels and/or televisionprograms for viewing and/or recording. Information used to populate EPGdatabase 230 may be received via network interface 220 and/or viasatellites, such as satellites 130 of FIG. 1 via tuners 215. Forinstance, updates to EPG database 230 may be received periodically viasatellite. EPG database 230 may serve as an interface for a user tocontrol DVR functions of television receiver 200, and/or to enableviewing and/or recording of multiple television channels simultaneously.

In addition to being used to provide users with information aboutscheduled programming, information from EPG database 230 may be used todetermine when television programs begin and end for the purposes ofrecording. For instance, if a channel-specific file is recorded thatcontains multiple television programs, the start and end of time ofspecific television programs within the channel-specific file may bebased on the start and end times indicated in the EPG. Other data may bestored for the EPG that may be useful in managing channel-specificfiles, such as series identifiers and episode identifiers (which may beused by a television service provider to identify particular televisionprograms).

Audio/video decoder 233 may serve to convert encoded video and audiointo a format suitable for output to a display device. For instance,audio/video decoder 233 may receive MPEG video and audio from storagemedium 225 or descrambling engine 265 to be output to a television. MPEGvideo and audio from storage medium 224 may have been recorded to DVRdatabase 245 as part of a previously-recorded television program.Audio/video decoder 233 may convert the MPEG video and audio into aformat appropriate to be displayed by a television or other form ofdisplay device and audio into a format appropriate to be output fromspeakers, respectively.

Television interface 235 may serve to output a signal to a television(or another form of display device) in a proper format for display ofvideo and playback of audio. As such, television interface 235 mayoutput one or more television channels, stored television programmingfrom storage medium 225 (e.g., television programs from DVR database 245and/or information from EPG database 230) to a television forpresentation.

The network information table (NIT) 240 may store information used bytelevision receiver 200 to access various television channels. NIT 240may be stored using storage medium 225. Information used to populate NIT240 may be received via satellite (or cable) through tuners 215 and/ormay be received via network interface 220 from the television serviceprovider. As such, information present in NIT 240 may be periodicallyupdated. NIT 240 may be locally-stored by television receiver 200 usingstorage medium 225. Information that may be present in NIT 240 mayinclude: television channel numbers, a satellite identifier, a frequencyidentifier, a transponder identifier, an ECM PID, one or more audioPIDs, and a video PID. (A second audio PID of a channel may correspondto a second audio program (SAP), such as in another language.) In someembodiments, NIT 240 may be divided into additional tables. For example,rather than the specific audio PIDs and video PIDs being present in NIT240, a channel identifier may be present within NIT 240 which may beused to look up the audio PIDs and video PIDs in another table, such asa program management table (PMT). For example, a program managementtable (PMT) may store information on audio PIDs and video PIDs fortelevision channels that are transmitted on a transponder frequency.

Table 1 provides a simplified example of NIT 240 for several televisionchannels. It should be understood that in other embodiments, many moretelevision channels may be represented in NIT 240. NIT 240 may beperiodically updated by a television service provider. As such,television channels may be reassigned to different satellites and/ortransponders, and television receiver 200 may be able to handle thisreassignment as long as NIT 240 is updated.

TABLE 1 Channel Satellite Transponder ECM PID PMT PID 4 1 2 27 1001 5 211 29 1002 7 2 3 31 1001 13 2 4 33 1004

Based on information in the NIT, it may be possible to determine theproper satellite and transponder to which to tune for a particulartelevision channel. In some embodiments, the NIT may list a particularfrequency to which to tune for a particular television channel. Oncetuned to the proper satellite/transponder/frequency, the PMT PID may beused to retrieve a program management table that indicates the PIDs foraudio and video streams of television channels transmitted by thattransponder.

It should be understood that the values provided in Table 1 are forexample purposes only. Actual values, including how satellites andtransponders are identified, may vary. Additional information may alsobe stored in NIT 240. Additional information on how NIT 240, asindicated in Table 1, may be used is provided in reference to FIG. 3.The same PID may be reused on different transponders.

A Digital Video Recorder (DVR) may permit a television channel to berecorded for a period of time. DVR functionality of television receiver200 may be managed by control processor 210-1. Control processor 210-1may coordinate the television channel, start time, and stop time of whenrecording of a television channel is to occur. DVR database 245 maystore information related to the recording of television stations. DVRdatabase 245 or some other storage arrangement (e.g., a separate file)may store timers that are used by control processor 210-1 to determinewhen a television channel should be tuned to and its programs recordedto DVR database 245 of storage medium 225. In some embodiments, alimited amount of storage medium 225 may be devoted to DVR database 245.Timers may be set by the television service provider and/or one or moreusers of television receiver 200.

The DVR functionality of control processor 210-1 may have multiplemodes. First, the DVR functionality of control processor 210-1 may beconfigured to record individual television programs selected by a userto DVR database 245. Using EPG database 230, a user may select aparticular television program. Based on the date, time period, andtelevision channel indicated by EPG database 230, Control processor210-1 may record the associated television program to DVR database 245.Second, DVR database 245 may be used to store recordings of predefinedperiods of time on one or more television channels. These predefinedperiods of time may include one or more television programs. Forexample, primetime on a particular television network may be recordedeach weekday night. Further, multiple television channels may berecorded for such predefined periods of time. Such recording oftelevision channels for predefined periods of time may be defined by thetelevision service provider.

As an example of this second mode of DVR functionality, a televisionservice provider may configure television receiver 200 to recordtelevision programming on multiple, predefined television channels for apredefined period of time, on predefined dates. For instance, atelevision service provider may configure television receiver 200 suchthat television programming may be recorded from 7 to 10 PM on NBC, ABC,CBS, and FOX on each weeknight. If a television program is selected forrecording by a user (e.g., the user sets a recording timer for thetelevision program) and is also specified for recording by thetelevision service provider, the user selection for recording may serveas an indication to save the television program for an extended time(beyond the time which the predefined recording would otherwise besaved).

Whether recording is performed based on a user-selected televisionprogram or selection by a television service provider, selection mayresult in storage by DVR database 245 being managed differently.Separate storage arrangements, such as separate partitions on the samestorage device, may be allocated based on which entity designated thetelevision program/channel for recording. As such, DVR database 245 mayuse multiple storage arrangements, such as multiple partitions onstorage medium 225. Television programming recorded based on atelevision service provider selection may be stored on a first storagearrangement. Television programming recorded based on user selection maybe stored on a second storage arrangement. Television programming on thefirst storage arrangement may automatically be deleted after apredefined period of time, such as two weeks. If a television programstored by the first storage arrangement is selected by a user (such asvia a displayed EPG) to be saved, the television program may betransferred from the first storage arrangement to the second storagearrangement, such as when the television programming would otherwise bedeleted from the first storage arrangement. Additional detail regardingthe recording, storage, and maintenance of television programming bytelevision receiver 200 is provided in conjunction with FIG. 3.

User interface 250 may include a remote control (physically separatefrom television receiver 200) and/or one or more buttons on televisionreceiver 200 that allows a user to interact with television receiver200. User interface 250 may be used to select a television channel forviewing, view information from EPG database 230, and/or program a timerstored to DVR database 245, wherein the timer is used to control the DVRfunctionality of control processor 210-1.

Referring back to tuners 215, television channels received via satellite(or cable) may contain at least some scrambled data. Packets of audioand video may be scrambled to prevent unauthorized users (e.g.,nonsubscribers) from receiving television programming without paying thetelevision service provider. When a tuner of tuners 215 is receivingdata from a particular transponder of a satellite, the transponderstream may be a series of data packets corresponding to multipletelevision channels. Each data packet may contain a packet identifier(PID), which, in combination with NIT 240 and/or PMT 257, can bedetermined to be associated with particular television channel.Particular data packets, referred to as entitlement control messages(ECMs) may be periodically transmitted. ECMs may be associated withanother PID and may be encrypted; television receiver 200 may use smartcard 260 to decrypt ECMs. Decryption of an ECM may only be possible ifthe user has authorization to access the particular television channelassociated with the ECM. When an ECM is determined to correspond to atelevision channel being stored and/or displayed, the ECM may beprovided to smart card 260 for decryption.

When smart card 260 receives an encrypted ECM, smart card 260 maydecrypt the ECM to obtain some number of control words. In someembodiments, from each ECM received by smart card 260, two control wordsare obtained. In some embodiments, when smart card 260 receives an ECM,it compares the ECM to the previously received ECM. If the two ECMsmatch, the second ECM is not decrypted because the same control wordswould be obtained. In other embodiments, each ECM received by smart card260 is decrypted; however, if a second ECM matches a first ECM, theoutputted control words will match; thus, effectively, the second ECMdoes not affect the control words output by smart card 260. Smart card260 may be permanently part of television receiver 200 or may beconfigured to be inserted and removed from television receiver 200.

Tuning management processor 210-2 may be in communication with tuners215 and control processor 210-1. Tuning management processor 210-2 maybe configured to receive commands from control processor 210-1. Suchcommands may indicate when to start/stop recording a television channeland/or when to start/stop causing a television channel to be output to atelevision. Tuning management processor 210-2 may control tuners 215.Tuning management processor 210-2 may provide commands to tuners 215that instruct the tuners which satellite, transponder, and/or frequencyto tune to. From tuners 215, tuning management processor 210-2 mayreceive transponder streams of packetized data. As previously detailed,some or all of these packets may include a PID that identifies thecontent of the packet.

Tuning management processor 210-2 may be configured to create one ormore PID filters 255 that sort packets received from tuners 215 based onthe PIDs. When a tuner is initially tuned to a particular frequency(e.g., to a particular transponder of a satellite) a PID filter may becreated based on a PID of PMT data. The PID of PMT data packets may beknown because it is stored as part of NIT 240. From the PMT datapackets, PMT may be constructed by tuning management processor 210-2.Table 2 provides an exemplary extract of a PMT. PMT 257 may be specificto a particular transponder. As such, if tuning to a differenttransponder occurs, a new PMT may be created for the differenttransponder.

TABLE 2 Video 1^(st) Audio 2^(nd) Audio Channel PID PID PID 4 1003 23832119 5 2993 2727 2728 7 9238 1233 0129 13 0012 9348 —

Accordingly, based on the information present in PMT 257, the audio andvideo PIDs for specific television channels may be identified. Atelevision channel may have multiple audio PIDs due to a second audioprogram (SAP), which may be in a different language.

It should be understood that the values provided in Table 2 are forexample purposes only. Actual values may vary. Additional information orless information may also be stored in PMT 257.

PID filters 255 may be configured to filter data packets based on PIDs.In some embodiments, PID filters 255 are created and executed by tuningmanagement processor 210-2. In other embodiments, separate hardware maybe used to create and execute such PID filters. Depending on atelevision channel selected for recording/viewing, a PID filter may becreated to filter the video and audio packets associated with thetelevision channel (based on the PID assignments present in PMT 257).For example, if a transponder data stream includes multiple televisionchannels, data packets corresponding to a television channel that is notdesired to be stored or displayed by the user, may be ignored by PIDfilters 255. As such, only data packets corresponding to the one or moretelevision channels desired to be stored and/or displayed may befiltered and passed to either descrambling engine 265 or smart card 260;other data packets may be ignored. For each television channel, a streamof video packets, a stream of audio packets (one or both of the audioprograms) and/or a stream of ECM packets may be present, each streamidentified by a PID. In some embodiments, a common ECM stream may beused for multiple television channels. Additional data packetscorresponding to other information, such as updates to NIT 240, may beappropriately routed by PID filters 255. At a given time, one ormultiple PID filters may be executed by tuning management processor210-2.

Descrambling engine 265 may use the control words output by smart card260 in order to descramble video and/or audio corresponding totelevision channels for storage and/or presentation. Video and/or audiodata contained in the transponder data stream received by tuners 215 maybe scrambled. Video and/or audio data may be descrambled by descramblingengine 265 using a particular control word. Which control word output bysmart card 260 to be used for successful descrambling may be indicatedby a scramble control identifier present within the data packetcontaining the scrambled video or audio. Descrambled video and/or audiomay be output by descrambling engine 265 to storage medium 225 forstorage (in DVR database 245) and/or to audio/video decoder 233 foroutput to a television or other presentation equipment via televisioninterface 235.

Catalog database 270 may be used by television receiver 200 to storeinformation about television programs that are stored as part of achannel-specific file and in individual television program files.Catalog database 270 may be updated as television programs are recorded,transferred, and as files corresponding to television programming aredeleted. Data stored in catalog database 270 may be used to locatetelevision programs within a channel-specific file. In some embodiments,such data is stored as part of DVR database 245 (as such, catalogdatabase 270 may be incorporated as part of DVR database 245).Additional detail regarding catalog database 270 is provided in relationto embodiment 300 of FIG. 3.

For simplicity, television receiver 200 of FIG. 2 has been reduced to ablock diagram; commonly known parts, such as a power supply, have beenomitted. Further, some routing between the various modules of televisionreceiver 200 has been illustrated. Such illustrations are for exemplarypurposes only. The state of two modules not being directly or indirectlyconnected does not indicate the modules cannot communicate. Rather,connections between modules of the television receiver 200 are intendedonly to indicate possible common data routing. It should be understoodthat the modules of television receiver 200 may be combined into a fewernumber of modules or divided into a greater number of modules. Further,the components of television receiver 200 may be part of another device,such as built into a television. Also, while television receiver 200 maybe used to receive, store, and present television channels received viaa satellite, it should be understood that similar components may be usedto receive, store, and present television channels via a cable network.

FIG. 3 illustrates an embodiment 300 of the DVR functionality oftelevision receiver 200 managing multiple storage arrangements of DVRdatabase 245. Television receiver 200 may record television programmingto two storage arrangements: channel array storage arrangement 310 anduser-assigned storage arrangement 320. These storage arrangements may beseparate devices (e.g., separate hard drives or memory) or may bedifferent locations on the same storage device (e.g., separate foldersor separate partitions). DVR 300 may be part of a television receiver,such as television receiver 200 of FIG. 2. For example, DVRfunctionality of television receiver 200 may be performed by controlprocessor 210-1.

Channel array storage arrangement 310 may be used to store recordings oftelevision channels, wherein the recordings each include multipletelevision programs. The time periods, dates, and television channelswhich are recorded to channel array storage arrangement 310 may bedefined by a television service provider. DVR database 245 may storerecorded television channel arrays recorded by television receiver 200in accordance with rules defined by the television service provider. Forinstance, a television service provider may define that multipletelevision channels (e.g., channels 1, 2, and 7 as illustrated in FIG.3) are to be recorded on each weekday night from 7 PM to 10 PM. Atelevisions service provider may define the channels, dates, and timeperiods for which channel arrays are recorded by a television receiver.For each television channel and each time period, a separate file may becreated. For example, omnibus channel file 331-1 corresponds to aparticular television channel (channel 7) and a particular date. Omnibuschannel file array 330-1 represents the three files created for thepredefined time period of 7 to 10 PM for preselected television channels1, 2, and 7. A separate file may be created for each television channelon each day that recording occurs. For example, omnibus channel filearray 330-1 (which contains 3 files) may correspond to a first day,while omnibus channel file array 330-2 (which contains three files) maycorrespond to another day.

Each omnibus channel file of omnibus channel file arrays 330 may containmultiple television programs. The television program is a scheduledproduction (e.g., movie, documentary, animation, live event, sportingevent, sitcom, drama, etc.), which may or may not be episodic. Atelevision program is not a commercial. For example, commercials (orpublic service announcements) which air during the broadcast of thetelevision program would not be considered separate television programs.Typically, a television program is scheduled for at least 30 minutes.Many television programs appearing during prime time on weekdays areeither one hour or 30 minutes in scheduled length. These periods of timemay contain time allocated to the scheduled television program andcommercials that are to be aired during the scheduled televisionprogram.

Multiple television programs may be present within a single omnibuschannel file. Omnibus channel file 331-2 was recorded to channel arraystorage arrangement 310 during a time period and date specified by thetelevision service provider. Within omnibus channel file 331-2, multipletelevision programs are present. Television program 340 is containedwithin omnibus channel file 331-2. Within omnibus channel file 331-2,one or more television programs may have been recorded before atelevision program 340 and after television program 340.

While an omnibus channel file, such as omnibus channel file 331-2, maystore audio and video data corresponding to multiple televisionprograms, a separate database may be maintained with programinformation, such as for locating television programs within an omnibuschannel file. A catalog database, such as catalog database 270 oftelevision receiver 200 of FIG. 2, may be maintained. For each recordedtelevision program, an entry may be made in the catalog database. Thecatalog database may indicate an identifier for a television program anda file in which the television program is stored. If the televisionprogram is stored as part of an omnibus channel file, a file offset maybe stored within the catalog database for the television program. Table3 provides an example of several entries which may be present in acatalog database. In some embodiments, a catalog database may storeseries and episode identifiers for some or all television programs.

TABLE 3 Television File Marked Program Offset for Identifier File Name(bytes) Save? 2738239 es2738239.tsp 0 No 9034836 es2738239.tsp 9832939Yes 4854557 es1003293.tsp 10239832 No 1122092 es1122092.tsp 0 No

A catalog database may provide data such as that indicated in Table 3.For example, a catalog database may include a television programidentifier, a file name of the file in which the television programresides, a file offset (if any), and an indication of whether a user hasmarked the corresponding television program for saving. A televisionprogram identifier may be a unique number that is assigned to atelevision program at the television receiver. The file name associatedwith each television program identifier may indicate the file in whichthe associated television program is stored. This file may be a filespecific to the television program or may be a channel-specific file (anomnibus channel file) which contains multiple television programs. As anexample, the first two television program identifiers in Table 3 eachcorrespond to the same file name. Accordingly, both of these televisionprogram identifiers are associated with television programs present inthe same omnibus channel file. In some embodiments, it may be a practiceto name each omnibus channel file after the program identifier of thefirst television program recorded to the omnibus channel file. As such,the filename associated with television program identifier “2738239”contains “2738239”. The file offset may be used to determine a locationwithin a file for television programs that contains multiple televisionprograms.

During recording, the file offset may be determined. For the firsttelevision program recorded as part of an omnibus channel file, theoffset may be zero. For subsequent television programs recorded to thesame omnibus channel file, the file offset may be determined bymeasuring the file size, in bytes, when the television program beginsrecording. It may be determined when the television program beginsrecording based on the start time for the television program indicatedin an electronic programming guide stored by the television receiver.For example, referring to Table 3, the television program associatedwith television program identifier 9034836 begins at a file offset of9832939 bytes. A television program is determined to end at either theend of the file or the next file offset within the same file indicatedby the catalog database. For example the television program associatedwith television program identifier “2738239” ends at a file offset of9832938 bytes (based on the file offset associated with televisionprogram identifier “9034836”).

Each omnibus channel file stored by channel array storage arrangement310 may be deleted on a scheduled basis. For example, two weeks after anomnibus channel file is recorded, the omnibus channel file may bedeleted. By automatically deleting omnibus channel files after a periodof time, the total amount of storage space necessary for channel arraystorage arrangement 310 may be determined accurately. For example, if itis known when omnibus channel files will be deleted, and it is known howmany and for how long omnibus channel files will be recorded, anecessary amount of storage space may be allocated to channel arraystorage arrangement 310.

During the period of time in which omnibus channel files are stored bychannel array storage arrangement 310, a user may have the ability towatch any of the television programs stored within omnibus channelfiles. Following the period of time during which the omnibus channelfiles are stored, only individual television programs specificallyindicated by a user to be designated for saving may be preserved; othertelevision programs that are part of the omnibus channel file may bedeleted. Referring to omnibus channel file 331-2, the user may selecttelevision program 340 for preservation. This may result in a flag(which may be a single bit) being set within the catalog database thatindicates the television program is to be saved when the omnibus channelfile is deleted. As an example of a reason why a user may choose topreserve television program 340, television program 340 may be part of aseries which the user enjoys watching but the user did not have a chanceto view while television program 340 was stored by channel array storagearrangement 310. The user may designate television program 340 forsaving via an EPG interface of television receiver 200. The user mayhave marked the specific episode corresponding to television program 340for saving or may have selected the entire series of which televisionprogram 340 is an episode for saving.

When omnibus channel file array 330-3 is to be deleted, televisionprogram 340 may be transferred from channel array storage arrangement310 to user-assigned storage arrangement 320. The dotted arrow of FIG. 3is intended to illustrate how television program 340 becomes anindividual television program file 350-5 on user-assigned storagearrangement 320. User-assigned storage arrangement 320 may be a separatestorage arrangement, such as a separate partition of the storage device,on which the user is permitted to allocate storage space as desired. Assuch, the television programs stored by user-assigned storagearrangement 320 may be determined by a user. For example, a user may bepermitted to store as many television programs to user-assigned storagearrangement 320 as desired until user-assigned storage arrangement 320is full. Once full, the user may be required to delete one or moretelevision programs from user-assigned storage arrangement 320 beforestoring another television program to user-assigned storage arrangement320.

When a television program is transferred to user-assigned storagearrangement 320, the catalog database may need to be updated such thatthe television program can be located. Entries corresponding to thedeleted omnibus channel files may be deleted from the catalog database.The new entry for the television program transferred to user-assignedstorage arrangement 320 may be made (or the previous entry for thetelevision program may be modified). Table 4 illustrates an example of amodified portion of a catalog database for television program 340 afterbeing transferred to the user-assigned storage arrangement 320.

TABLE 4 Television File Marked Program Offset for Identifier File Name(bytes) Save?

    

9034836 es9034836.tsp     0 Yes

    

In Table 4, assume television program identifier 9034836 corresponds totelevision program 340. The entries associated with television programidentifier “2738239”, “4854557”, and “1122092” are deleted due todeletion of the corresponding omnibus channel files from channel arraystorage arrangement 310 (such deletions are indicated by strikethroughtext). However, the entry corresponding to television program 340 ismaintained with the filename and file offset being updated for thetelevision program-specific file in which the television program is nowstored. As such, as omnibus channel files are created, stored, anddeleted and as individual television program files are created, storedand deleted, a catalog database may be updated such that each televisionprogram has an entry (that is, television programs stored in omnibuschannel files and television programs stored in individual program fileseach have entries).

Once a copy of television program 340 has been transferred to auser-assigned storage arrangement 320, omnibus channel file 331-2 may bedeleted. However, a individual television program file 350-5 may becreated and stored on user-assigned storage arrangement 320. For examplepurposes only, four other television programs are illustrated as storedby user-assigned storage arrangement 320. Each of individual televisionprogram files 350 is associated with separate files. As such, eachtelevision program-specific file of individual television program files350 are intended to store a single television program from start tofinish. It should be understood that due to recording scheduling, ashort period of time of another television program (and/or commercials)may be stored at the beginning and/or end of a television programspecific file. Likewise, a short period of time of the televisionprogram desired to be recorded may fail to be recorded at the beginningor end of the recording of the television program. While channel arraystorage arrangement 310 stores channel-specific files, user-assignedstorage arrangement 320 stores television program-specific files. Once atelevision program, such as individual television program file 350-5, isstored on user-assigned storage arrangement 320, the television programmay be stored indefinitely until the television program is selected fordeletion by a user.

While the embodiment 300 of FIG. 3 focuses on the recording, storage,and deletion of omnibus channel files and program specific files (whichcontain audio and video data), it should be understood that other filesmay accompany the audio and video data, such as to store metadataassociated with each television program. Such files, referred to asbookmark files, may be created, stored, and deleted as detailed inreference to FIGS. 4 and 5.

Embodiment 300 may represent a situation where the television receiveris enabled to record arrays of television channels (such as on a nightlybasis). It should be understood that a user may disable such recording.If disabled, a user may still select individual television programs forrecording. Such individual television programs selected for recordingmay be recorded directly to user-assigned storage arrangement 320 intoindividual television program files. In some embodiments, if a user hasdisabled television channel array recording, the storage arrangementdevoted to array storage may be reassigned and used for other storage,such as for storage of additional user selected television programs. Insome embodiments, when array recording is disabled the channel arraystorage arrangement may be removed (if a partition) with the spacereallocated to the user-assigned storage arrangement or some otherstorage arrangement. Alternatively, the channel array storagearrangement may remain unused.

FIG. 4 illustrates an embodiment 400 of a graphical representation ofextraction of a television program from an omnibus channel file.Embodiment 400 may represent the arrangement of embodiment 300 wheretelevision program 340 is transferred to user-assigned storagearrangement 320 and stored as individual television program file 350-5.In FIG. 4, two transfers are represented: transfer of video and audiodata from an omnibus channel file to a television program-specific file;and transfer of metadata from an omnibus bookmark file to an individualprogram-specific bookmark file.

During or following an omnibus channel file being recorded and stored, acorresponding omnibus bookmark file may also be created and stored. Forexample, omnibus channel file 331-1 of FIG. 4 represents a televisionchannel omnibus file recorded as part of omnibus channel file array330-3 of FIG. 3. When omnibus channel file 331-2 is recorded, omnibusbookmark file 410 may be created. Omnibus bookmark file 410 may be usedto store metadata, such as information about the television programspresent within omnibus channel file 331-2. For example, informationtypically presented to a user in an electronic programming guide foreach television program within omnibus channel file 331-2 may be storedas part of omnibus bookmark file 410. For example, omnibus bookmark file410 may include for each television program present within omnibuschannel file 331-2: a television program title, a television programepisode name, a series identifier, an episode identifier, a descriptionof the television program, audio and video PID information, a broadcastdate/time/channel, a start time (indicated by a file offset, and/or anend time (indicated by another file offset).

While omnibus channel file 331-2 is being created, omnibus bookmark file410 may be created based on information present in the locally-storedelectronic programming guide and event transitions occurring. An eventtransition may occur when a new television program is scheduled to beginaccording to the EPG. For example, an event transition may occur at 8 PMdue to the EPG indicating a new television program is scheduled to beginat 8 PM on the television channel being recorded to the omnibus channelfile. It should be understood that the actual start time of thetelevision program as broadcast by the television channel may vary;likely, the difference in time between the event transition and theactual start time of the television program is at most a few minutes.

When an event transition occurs on the television channel being recordedto omnibus channel file 331-2, a new entry may be made in omnibusbookmark file 410 based on the file offset of the omnibus channel file331-2. The file offset may be measured by determining the file size ofomnibus channel file 331-2 when the event transition occurs. At a latertime, based on the file offset, it may be possible to determine where inomnibus channel file 331-2 the television program is scheduled to begin(according to the EPG data). Omnibus bookmark files may be named inaccordance with omnibus channel files. For example, the name of omnibusbookmark file 410 may match omnibus channel file 331-2, with only adifferent file extension (e.g., .bm). As such, based on knowing the filename of omnibus channel file 331-2, a television receiver may access thecorresponding omnibus bookmark file by changing the file extension ofthe omnibus channel file.

Just as after a predefined period of time omnibus channel file 331-2 isscheduled to be deleted, omnibus bookmark file 410 may also be deleted.As such, when an omnibus channel file is deleted, an associated omnibusbookmark file may also be deleted. If the user has marked a portion ofomnibus channel file 331-2 for saving, the corresponding portion ofomnibus bookmark file 410 may also be preserved such that the metadataassociated with the television program selected by the user ispreserved.

Within omnibus channel file 331-2, three event transitions occur: eventtransition 421, event transition 422, and event transition 423. Each ofthese event transitions may be determined based on event transitionspresent within the electronic programming guide of the televisionreceiver. Event transitions 421, 422, and 423 are indicated by fileoffsets stored by omnibus bookmark file 410. Therefore, based on thefile offsets, which may be measured in bytes (or some other measurementarrangement, such as playback time), it may be possible for a televisionreceiver to locate event transitions 421, 422, and 423. While eventtransitions are illustrated as present in omnibus channel file 331-1 forvisualization purposes, it should be understood that no metadata thatindicates the event transition may actually be present in omnibuschannel file 331-2.

Based on a user having selected the television program indicated asbeginning at event transition 422 and ending at event transition 423, anindividual program file may be created for the corresponding televisionprogram when omnibus channel file 331-2 is to be deleted. In someembodiments, rather than waiting for when omnibus channel file 331-2 isto be deleted, the individual program file may be created for thetelevision program when the selection for saving the television programis received from the user. Based upon the file offsets associated withevent transition 422 and 423 stored in catalog database 270, DVRdatabase 245, or omnibus bookmark file 410, individual televisionprogram file 350-5 may be created. Referring to embodiment 300 of FIG.3, it should be understood that omnibus channel file 331-2 may be storedon channel array storage arrangement 310, while individual televisionprogram file 350-5 is stored using user-assigned storage arrangement320. In some embodiments, a single storage arrangement is used for bothomnibus channel files and individual program files.

As previously detailed, a catalog database maintained by the televisionreceiver may indicate filenames and file offsets for where particulartelevision programs begin and end within omnibus channel files. Based onthese filenames and file offsets, the appropriate portion of omnibuschannel file 331-2 may be extracted to create individual televisionprogram file 350-5. Further, the filename may be used to determine thecorresponding omnibus bookmark file 410 and the file offset may be usedto locate the appropriate metadata within omnibus bookmark file 410 topreserve. Metadata associated with the offset indicated in the catalogdatabase may be used to create a television program-specific bookmarkfile. Such an individual program bookmark file 420 may contain metadataassociated with only a particular television program. As an example,individual program bookmark file 420 may contain metadata onlyassociated with individual television program file 350-5. For the onetelevision program, such metadata may include: a television programtitle, a television program episode name, a series identifier, anepisode identifier, a description of the television program, audio andvideo PID information, and/or a broadcast date/time/channel. While onlya single television program is present within individual televisionprogram file 350-5, it may still be necessary to store data related tothe audio and video PIDs of the television program. For instance,multiple audio PIDs may be present for a second audio program (SAP).Further, in some embodiments, decoding hardware, such as audio/videodecoder 233 of FIG. 2, may require the audio and video PID be specified,regardless of whether only a single audio and a single video stream arepresent within a file for decoding and output to a presentation device,such as a television.

Based on the user selecting a particular television program from withinthe omnibus channel file for saving, an individual program file in anindividual program bookmark file for the television program is createdand stored to a separate storage arrangement. The omnibus bookmark fileand the omnibus channel file may then be deleted. It should beunderstood that while the previous described embodiments are directed toa single television program from an omnibus channel file being saved,more than one television program from a single omnibus channel file maybe saved to a user-assigned storage arrangement for later viewing.

In embodiment 400, data for omnibus bookmark file 410 is created basedon data from the electronic programming guide of the televisionreceiver. The data for the electronic programming guide may have beenreceived by the television receiver at some point ahead of when thetelevision program was broadcast on the television channel. As such, theevent transitions used to indicate the file offsets within omnibusbookmark file 410 may only be estimates. Due to delays, schedulingconflicts, commercials, etc., the actual start and stop time of atelevision program may vary from the event transitions indicated in theEPG, which is used to determine the file offsets stored to omnibusbookmark file 410. Therefore, if the file offsets indicated in omnibusbookmark file 410 are used to determine the start and end times of afirst television program, a portion of the first television program maybe lost at the beginning (or end) and/or a portion of a secondtelevision program (or commercials) may be present at the beginning (orend) of the recording of the first television program.

FIG. 5 illustrates an embodiment 500 of a graphical representation ofextraction of a television program from an omnibus channel file.Embodiment 500 may represent the arrangement of embodiment 300 wheretelevision program 340 is transferred to user-assigned storagearrangement 320 and stored as individual television program file 350-5.In embodiment 400, omnibus bookmark file 410 was created, stored, andlater used to create individual program bookmark file 420. In embodiment500, a supplemental bookmark file, referred to as a segmented bookmarkfile for a specific television program may be created to supplement theomnibus bookmark file created based on EPG information. For clarity, anomnibus bookmark file (such as omnibus bookmark file 410 of FIG. 4)created for multiple television programs recorded consecutively on atelevision channel may be referred to as a non-segmented omnibusbookmark file. This non-segmented bookmark file contains metadata basedon the received and locally-stored electronic programming guideinformation, which is received ahead of the broadcast of the containedtelevision programs. A segmented bookmark file may be created usinginformation collected by the television service provider and mayindicate a more accurate television program start time and televisionprogram end time for a particular television program. Additionally oralternatively, a segmented bookmark file may designate portions of arecording of a television program directed to content a user is unlikelyto want to watch (such as commercials). Data for creating a segmentedbookmark file for a television program may involve having one or morepersons watch the television program at a facility of the televisionservice provider and provide input to a television service providersystem that indicates 1) at what time a television program actuallybegins and ends and/or 2) during what time periods commercial breaksduring the television program begin and end. Series and episodeidentifiers may be used to identify the television program.

Similar to as detailed in relation to FIG. 4, omnibus channel file 331-2may be recorded on a particular television channel over a period of timeduring which multiple television programs are broadcast. As such,omnibus channel file 331-2 may contain multiple television programs.During or following omnibus channel file 331-2 being recorded andstored, a corresponding non-segmented omnibus bookmark file may also becreated and stored. Omnibus channel file 331-2 of FIG. 5 represents anexemplary television channel omnibus file recorded as part of omnibuschannel file array 330-3 of FIG. 3. When omnibus channel file 331-2 isrecorded, non-segmented omnibus bookmark file 410 may be created andstored. This non-segmented omnibus bookmark file 410 represents the sameomnibus bookmark file 410 of embodiment 400 of FIG. 4 and may containthe same information. Non-segmented omnibus bookmark file 410 may beused to store metadata, such as information about the televisionprograms present within omnibus channel file 331-2. Non-segmentedomnibus bookmark file 410 may be created using information correspondingto the television channel and the date/time present in thelocally-stored EPG of the television receiver. For example,non-segmented omnibus bookmark file 410 may include for each televisionprogram present within omnibus channel file 331-2: a television programtitle, a television program episode name, a series identifier, anepisode identifier, a description of the television program, audio andvideo PID information, a broadcast date/time/channel, a start time(indicated by a file offset, and/or an end time (indicated by anotherfile offset). This information may be received ahead of when thetelevision program is scheduled to be broadcast (e.g., several daysahead of time). As such, a start and an end time for the televisionprogram may be estimated.

While omnibus channel file 331-2 is being created, non-segmented omnibusbookmark file 410 may be created based on information present in thelocally-stored EPG and event transitions (as indicated by the EPG)occurring. An event transition may occur when a new television programis scheduled to begin (as indicated by the EPG data). For example, anevent transition may occur at 8 PM due to the EPG indicating a newtelevision program is scheduled to begin at 8 PM on the televisionchannel being recorded. It should be understood that the actual starttime of the television program as broadcast by the television channelmay vary; likely, the difference in time between the event transitionand the actual start time of the television program is at most a fewminutes.

When an event transition occurs (according to the EPG) on the televisionchannel being recorded to omnibus channel file 331-2, a new entry may bemade in non-segmented omnibus bookmark file 410 based on a measured filesize of omnibus channel file 331-2. The file size may be stored as afile offset that indicates the point at which the television program isscheduled to begin in omnibus channel file 331-2. The file size may bemeasured by determining the file size of omnibus channel file 331-2 whenthe event transition occurs. At a later time, based on the stored fileoffset, it may be possible to determine where in omnibus channel file331-2 the television program is scheduled to begin (according to theEPG). Non-segmented omnibus bookmark files may be named in accordancewith omnibus channel files. For example, the name of non-segmentedomnibus bookmark file 410 may match omnibus channel file 331-2, with adifferent file extension. As such, based on knowing the file name ofomnibus channel file 331-2, a television receiver may access thecorresponding omnibus bookmark file by using the same file name with adifferent file extension.

As previously mentioned, the start and end times of television programsmay not be accurate based on EPG data. As such, during, or at some pointafter omnibus channel file 331-2 is created and stored (andnon-segmented omnibus bookmark file 410 is created and stored), thetelevision receiver may receive segment data from a television serviceprovider. The segment data may be used to create a segmented bookmarkfile 510 for a particular television program. In some embodiments, thesegmented bookmark file 510 may be created several hours, a day, orseveral days after creation and storage of omnibus channel file 331-2and non-segmented omnibus bookmark file 410. The segmented bookmark file510 may correspond to a particular television program; as such, ifmultiple television programs are present in omnibus channel file 331-2,a separate segmented bookmark file may be created for each televisionprogram based on received segment data. In many embodiments, a segmentedbookmark file will be created after the non-segmented omnibus bookmarkfile is created, but before the associated omnibus channel file isselected for deletion (which is likely to occur a week or more aftercreation). A segmented bookmark file may be intended to supplement theinformation stored in a corresponding non-segmented omnibus bookmarkfile for a particular television program. Segmented bookmark filesassociated with television programs stored as part of an omnibus channelfile may be stored to the same storage arrangement as the omnibuschannel file.

Data used to create segmented bookmark files may be transferred to thetelevision receiver. Referring to FIG. 1, such data may be relayed bytelevision service provider system 110 to the television receiver 150via a transponder stream using one of satellites 130. The data forsegmented bookmark file 510 may indicate a more accurate start timeand/or end time for a particular television program recorded as part ofomnibus channel file 331-2. Additionally, the data for segmentedbookmark file 510 may indicate periods of time corresponding tocommercial breaks occurring during a television program recorded as partof omnibus channel file 331-2. The television receiver may determine thetelevision program to which the segmented data corresponds based on aseries identifier and an episode identifier which are transmitted to thetelevision receiver by the television service provider and may be storedin the form of an announcement file. The series and episode identifiersmay be used to match the segment data to a locally-created programidentifier, which is stored in a catalog database. Accordingly, by usingthe series and episode identifier, a television receiver can determinethe correct program to which segment data corresponds. Following theprogram identifier being determined, a segment bookmark file may becreated for the television program using the received segment data andlinked with the program identifier.

From received segment data, segmented bookmark file 510 may be createdwhich corresponds to, for example, television program 340 of FIG. 3,which has been selected by a user for saving. A non-segmented omnibusbookmark file 410 and a segmented bookmark file 510 may be maintainedseparately. While omnibus channel file 331-2 is in existence and theuser has selected a television program present in omnibus channel file331-2 for playback, segmented bookmark file 510 may be used to determineat what points within omnibus channel file 331-2 playback should beginand end for television program 340. The playback start point may bebefore, after, or at the start event transition point indicated by theEPG. Similarly, the playback endpoint may be before, after, or at theend event transition indicated by the EPG. As such, the start and endtimes indicated by the segmented bookmark file for a television programcan be expected to be more accurate than start and end times indicatedby file offsets in a non-segmented bookmark file, such as non-segmentedomnibus bookmark file 410.

In embodiment 500, according to the television receiver's EPG data,event transition 422 signals the beginning of television program 340 andevent transition 423 signals the end of television program 340. Theseevent transitions may be stored as file offsets in non-segmented omnibusbookmark file 410. Based on segment data later received by thetelevision receiver, segmented bookmark file 510 may contain moreaccurate start and end times for television program 340. In theillustrated embodiment, event transition 521 signals the beginning oftelevision program 340 and event transition 522 signals the end oftelevision program 340. Accordingly, television program 340 began earlyand ended late (as compared to the previously-stored EPG information atthe television receiver). It should be understood that in otherembodiments, a television program may start late and/or end early, orsome other combination thereof. It is, of course, possible that atelevision program may begin and/or end exactly as scheduled in the EPG.

Segmented bookmark file 510 may be used to skip commercials (or someother undesired viewing event) during viewing of the television program.Segments of a television program may be defined based on portions of thetelevision programming the user is likely to want to watch. For examplecommercial portion 526 and commercial portion 527 of omnibus channelfile 331-2 may correspond to commercial breaks, and thus may be desiredto be skipped during viewing by a user. Segment 523, which begins atevent transition 521 and ends at the beginning of commercial portion526; segment 524, which begins at the end of commercial portion 526 andends at the beginning of commercial portion 527; and segment 525, whichbegins at the end of commercial portion 527 and ends at event transition522, may be segments desired to be watched by user. A segment may bedefined by a positive and negative frame offset from a frame within thesegment. The frame from which the positive and negative frame offsetsare measured may be identified based on a string of characters appearingin the closed captioning data. Accordingly, the segment data received bythe television receiver from the television service provider mayindicate a string of characters to be located within closed captioningdata of the television program, a positive frame offset (which definesthe end of the segment) and the negative frame offset (which defines thebeginning of the segment). Segments may be defined such that commercialsare excluded. Thus, during playback, the user can seamlessly or almostseamlessly watch the television program without undesired viewingevents, such as interspersed commercials.

Referring to FIG. 3, based on a user having selected television program340, an individual television program file 350-5 may be created for thecorresponding television program when omnibus channel file 331-2 is tobe deleted. In some embodiments, rather than waiting for when omnibuschannel file 331-2 is to be deleted, the individual program file may becreated for the television program when the selection for saving thetelevision program is received from the user. Referring back to FIG. 5,if a segmented bookmark file associated with the television program isstored by the television receiver, as it is in embodiment 500, thesegmented bookmark file may be used to determine a start and end timefor the individual program file. Based upon the start and end timesindicated in segmented bookmark file 510, individual program file 530may be created. Referring to embodiment 300 of FIG. 3, it should beunderstood that omnibus channel file 331-2 may be stored on channelarray storage arrangement 310, while individual program file 530 isstored using user-assigned storage arrangement 320. In some embodiments,a single storage arrangement is used for both omnibus channel files andindividual program files.

As previously detailed, a catalog database of the television receivermay indicate filenames and file offsets at which particular televisionprograms begin and end within omnibus channel files. Based on thesefilenames, file offsets and corresponding data in segmented bookmarkfile 510 (which may be named according to the program identifierassigned at the television receiver), the appropriate portion of omnibuschannel file 331-2 may be extracted to create individual program file530. Further, the filename may be used to determine the correspondingnon-segmented omnibus bookmark file 410 and the file offset may be usedto locate the appropriate metadata within non-segmented omnibus bookmarkfile 410 which is to be preserved. Metadata associated with the offsetindicated in the catalog database may be used to create an individualprogram non-segmented bookmark file 420. Such an individual programnon-segmented bookmark file 420 may contain metadata associated withonly the particular television program. As an example, individualprogram bookmark file 420 may contain metadata only associated withindividual television program file 350-5. For the one televisionprogram, such metadata may include: a television program title, atelevision program episode name, a series identifier, an episodeidentifier, a description of the television program, audio and video PIDinformation, and/or a broadcast date/time/channel. Data from segmentedbookmark file 510 may be used to determine the start and end points atwhich the television program occurs within omnibus channel file 331-2.Based on this data from the segmented bookmark file, the start and endpoints used to create individual program file 530 may be determined.

The segmented bookmark file 510 may be preserved and stored on the samestorage arrangement with individual television program file 350-5 andindividual program non-segmented bookmark file 420. Segment data ofsegmented bookmark file 510 may be used during playback to skipundesirable viewing events, such as commercial breaks. Accordingly, fora television program selected by a user to be stored to a user-assignedstorage arrangement, three files may be stored: an individual programfile (which may contain audio and video data); a non-segmentedprogram-specific bookmark file (which may contain metadata, such as adescription of the television program); and a segmented bookmark file(which may contain metadata indicating segments of the individualprogram file that are to be played during playback).

Based on the user selecting a particular television program from withinthe omnibus channel file for saving, an individual program file and anindividual program non-segmented program bookmark file are created andstored. The corresponding segmented bookmark file for the televisionprogram is preserved. Each file may be stored to a user-assigned storagearrangement. The non-segmented omnibus bookmark file and the omnibuschannel file may then be deleted according to the predefined schedule.It should be understood that while the previous described embodimentsare directed to a single television program from an omnibus channel filebeing saved, more than one television program from a single omnibuschannel file may be saved to a user-assigned storage arrangement forlater viewing.

Using a television distribution system (such as satellite televisiondistribution system 100 of FIG. 1) and a television receiver (such astelevision receiver 200 of FIG. 2), various methods may be performed.FIG. 6 illustrates an embodiment of a method 600 for extracting atelevision program from an omnibus channel file and saving it to anindividual program file. Method 600 may be performed using a televisionreceiver, such as a set top box. Method 600 may involve data beingreceived from a television service provider, such as via satellitetelevision distribution system 100 of FIG. 1. It should be understoodthat in other embodiments of method 600, other forms of provider systemsmay be used, such as cable television distribution systems or an IPtelevision distribution system. Means for performing method 600 includetelevision receivers, television service provider systems, and computersystems (which may be incorporated as part of a television receiverand/or television service provider system).

At step 610, a tuner of the television receiver may be tuned to atransponder stream that contains a television channel to be recorded. Insome embodiments, multiple television channels may be recorded at thesame time. Further, in some embodiments, the multiple televisionchannels may be received via a single tuner of the television receiver.As an example, four television channels may be recorded simultaneously(such as during primetime), wherein each of the television channels isreceived by the television receiver using a single tuner.

At step 620, and omnibus channel file may be recorded and stored for thetelevision channel tuned to at step 610. The omnibus channel filerecorded and stored may contain multiple television programs which werebroadcast on the television channel within the time period during whichrecording occurred. As an example, if the omnibus channel file wasrecorded for a television channel from 7 PM until 10 PM, the singleomnibus channel file would contain each television program broadcast onthe television channel during the time period from 7 PM until 10 PM. Ifeach television program broadcast during this time period was thirtyminutes long, six television programs may be stored as part of thesingle omnibus channel file. The recording of the omnibus channel filemay be stored to storage arrangement, such as a hard drive partition,dedicated to storage of such omnibus channel files. Multiple omnibuschannel files, for different channels, may be recorded and storedsimultaneously. For instance, omnibus channel files may be stored foreach major television network during a period of time, such as primetime. The television channels, the dates, and the time periods for whichomnibus channel files are created may be selected by the televisionservice provider. The television service provider may configure thetelevision receiver such that the recording of the omnibus channel filesoccurs according to the schedule selected by the television serviceprovider.

At step 630, a bookmark file corresponding to the omnibus channel filemay be created and stored. Because this bookmark file containsinformation on each television program present within the omnibuschannel file, the bookmark file may be referred to as a (non-segmented)omnibus bookmark file. The omnibus bookmark file may be created based oninformation present within an electronic programming guide (EPG) storedby the television receiver. According to EPG data, when an eventtransition occurs (one television program ending and another beginning)for the television channel being recorded, an entry may be made in theomnibus bookmark file that indicates a file offset, a program identifier(which may be created by the television receiver), and information abouttelevision program (e.g., title, description, series name, rating). Thefile offset may be based on the file size of the omnibus channel file(e.g., measured in bytes) at the (approximate) time of the eventtransition. The omnibus bookmark file may be named to match the omnibuschannel file, with a different file extension (such as .bm).

In response to each event transition, an entry may be made within acatalog database maintained by the television receiver at step 640. Theentry in the catalog database may indicate at least: the programidentifier, a file name of the omnibus channel file (which may be namedafter the program identifier of the first television program recorded aspart of the omnibus channel file), and the file offset. Therefore, basedon the entry in the catalog database, information about the televisionprogram (via the bookmark file) and the location of the televisionprogram (via the filename of the omnibus channel file and the fileoffset) may be determined. In some embodiments, rather than an entry inthe catalog database being made in response to each event transition,entries may be made for each program recorded as part of the omnibuschannel file following the recording of the omnibus channel file beingcompleted.

Once recording of the omnibus channel file is complete, the omnibuschannel file may be stored for a predetermined amount of time, such astwo weeks. This predetermined time may be set by the television serviceprovider (or, possibly, a user of the television receiver). During thistime period, the user may be permitted to individually view some or allof the television programs that were recorded as part of the omnibuschannel file. Just as with other television programs recorded using aDVR feature of the television receiver, a user may be permitted toselect a particular television program for playback. Prior to, during,or after the omnibus channel file having been recorded, a user mayindicate one or more television programs within the omnibus channel fileare to be saved. By indicating a particular television program is to besaved, the television program may not be subject to be stored for onlythe predetermined amount of time. Therefore, by selecting a televisionprogram for saving, the television program may be available to the userfor playback until the user specifies the television program is to bedeleted. If a television program of the omnibus channel file is to besaved, a user input indicating that a television program of the omnibuschannel file is to be saved may be received by the television receiver.For example, via the EPG of the television receiver, a user may select atelevision program for saving. An indication of the user input may bestored as a flag in the catalog database. Each entry within the catalogdatabase corresponding to a television program of an omnibus channelfile may have a flag bit (or some other form of indicator) thatindicates whether the television program associated with the entry inthe catalog database is to be saved or not. Accordingly, in response touser input indicating the television program is to be saved, the entrycorresponding to the television program may be updated to reflect thesaving designation in the catalog database.

Step 650 may be performed when the predetermined amount of time forwhich the omnibus channel file is to be saved has elapsed. For example,step 650 may be performed approximately two weeks after the omnibuschannel file is recorded and stored at step 620 (other periods of timeare also possible). At step 650, a determination may be made as towhether one or more of the television programs present within theomnibus channel file are to be saved. Determining whether one or moretelevision programs present within the omnibus channel file are to besaved may include analyzing the catalog database stored by thetelevision receiver. For each entry of the television program that isstored within the omnibus channel file, a field within the catalogdatabase may be examined. This field may be a single bit that indicateswhether or not the television program is to be saved.

If at step 650 it is determined that no television programs within theomnibus channel file were marked for saving, method 600 may proceed tostep 670. At step 670, the omnibus channel file and the omnibus bookmarkfile may be deleted, such that the television programs stored within theomnibus channel file are no longer available. At step 680, the catalogdatabase may be updated such that entries are no longer present for thetelevision programs which are stored as part of the omnibus channelfile.

Returning to step 650, if one or more television programs within theomnibus channel file were marked for saving, method 600 may proceed tostep 660. For the remainder of method 600, it is assumed that a singletelevision program of the omnibus channel file was selected for savingand was so indicated in the catalog database. It should be understoodthat in other embodiments more than one television programs from withinthe omnibus channel file may be marked for saving.

In some embodiments, a user may have the ability to select that channelarrays are to no longer be recorded and/or stored. A user providing suchan input to the television receiver may trigger step 650 to be performedfor some or all television programs within omnibus channel files storedby the television receiver.

At step 660, the portion of the omnibus channel file corresponding tothe television program may be copied or moved to an individual programfile. The individual program file may be stored to a separate storagearrangement, such as a separate storage device, a separate partition ofa hard drive, or a separate folder on the same drive. As such,individual program files may be stored to a separate storage arrangementfrom omnibus channel files. Accordingly, this may mean that storage to afirst partition is managed by the television service provider whilestorage to a second partition is based on user selection of televisionprograms for storage. The portion of the omnibus channel file stored maybe based on the file offsets stored in the bookmark file created at step630 and/or the file offsets stored in the catalog database. Using thesefile offsets, which may be obtained from either the bookmark file or thecatalog database, a start point and endpoint for the television programwithin the omnibus channel file may be determined. It should beunderstood that this start point and endpoint for the television programmay be based on EPG data, which was received by the television receiverbefore the television program was broadcast. As such, the start and endtimes may be approximate and may not match with the actual start and endpoint of the television program as broadcast on the television channel.Accordingly, the individual program file may begin before or after thestart of the television program; likewise, the end of the individualprogram file may be before the end of the television program or afterthe end of the television program.

Further, at step 660, from the omnibus bookmark file, an individualbookmark file may be created for the television program. The individualbookmark file may also be stored to a different storage arrangementalong with the individual program file. The individual bookmark file maycontain only metadata that corresponds to the particular televisionprogram. Based on the file offset of the television program to be saved,the metadata to be saved for the television program may be identifiedfrom within the omnibus bookmark file. As such, following step 660, anindividual program file and an individual bookmark file may be createdfor the television program selected by the user for saving.

In some embodiments, step 660 may involve “side-loading” to a separateplayback device (e.g., a cellphone, gaming device, tablet computer,laptop computer). Side-loading may similarly involve the portion of theomnibus channel file (and possibly the portion of the omnibus bookmarkfile) being stored to the playback device as described above.Additionally, transcoding may be performed to place the stored audioand/or video in a format appropriate for the separate playback device.For instance, for a cellular phone having a small screen, a reducedresolution may be used for the video stored to the separate playbackdevice. An MPEG-4 level compression may be output from transcoding. Insome embodiments, regardless of the separate playback device, a singleresolution of video is produced by the transcoding. Due to copyrightlaws, whenever a copy of a television program is copied to a separateplayback device, the television program may be removed from thetelevision receiver regardless of whether deletion of the televisionprogram from the television receiver is scheduled to occur. In otherembodiments, having multiple copies may be permissible. Side-loading mayalso occur after step 660. If performed after step 660, the individualfile(s) for the television program may be transcoded and moved or copiedto the separate playback device.

At step 670, after the individual files created at step 660, the omnibuschannel file and the omnibus bookmark file may be deleted. At step 680,the catalog database may be updated. Updating the catalog database mayinclude removing entries for the television programs stored as part ofthe omnibus channel file. Further, updating the catalog database mayinclude modifying the existing entry for the television program saved tothe individual file. Such modification may include updating the fileoffset (which may be zero because the television program is in a filecontaining only the television program) and updating the file nameand/or location such that the catalog database entry for the televisionprogram points to the individual program file containing the televisionprogram. In some embodiments, rather than modifying the existing entryfor the television program, the existing entry for the televisionprogram may be deleted in a new entry in the catalog database may becreated.

Whether a television program is stored in an omnibus channel file or ina separate program file, a user may request playback via the DVRfunctionality of the television receiver. If playback of a televisionprogram is requested by a user, the catalog database may be used tolocate the recording for playback. Playback of a television program froman omnibus channel file may involve the catalog database being used todetermine the omnibus channel file in which the television programrequested by the user is stored and a file offsets at which thetelevision program begins within the omnibus channel file. Bookmark dataabout the television program may be accessed from the omnibus bookmarkfile. If a television program has been copied to an individual file, thecatalog database may point to that file for playback (no offsetindication may be necessary because only the television program ispresent in the individual file). A corresponding bookmark file may bepresent for the individual file.

FIG. 7 illustrates an embodiment of a method 700 for extracting atelevision program from an omnibus channel file and saving it to anindividual program file. Method 700 may be performed using a televisionreceiver, such as a set top box. Method 700 may involve data beingreceived from a television service provider, such as via satellitetelevision distribution system 100 of FIG. 1. It should be understoodthat in other embodiments of method 700, other forms of provider systemsmay be used, such as cable television distribution systems or an IPtelevision distribution system. Means for performing method 700 includetelevision receivers, television service provider systems, and computersystems (which may be incorporated as part of a television receiverand/or television service provider system). Method 700 may represent amore detailed embodiment of method 600 of FIG. 6. For example, in method700 segmented bookmark files may be created in addition to the(non-segmented) omnibus bookmark files and the (non-segmented)individual program bookmark files.

At step 705, a tuner of the television receiver may be tuned to atransponder stream that contains a television channel to be recorded. Insome embodiments, multiple television channels may be recorded at thesame time. Further, in some embodiments, the multiple televisionchannels may be received via a single tuner of the television receiver.As an example, four television channels may be recorded simultaneously(such as during primetime), wherein each of the television channels isreceived by the television receiver using a single tuner.

At step 710, and omnibus channel file may be recorded and stored for thetelevision channel tuned to at step 705. The omnibus channel filerecorded and stored may contain multiple television programs which werebroadcast on the television channel within the time period during whichrecording occurred. The recording of the omnibus channel file may bestored to storage arrangement, such as a hard drive partition, dedicatedto storage of such omnibus channel files. Multiple omnibus channelfiles, for different channels, may be recorded and storedsimultaneously. For instance, omnibus channel files may be stored foreach major television network during a period of time, such as primetime. The television channels, the dates, and the time periods for whichomnibus channel files are created may be selected by the televisionservice provider. The television service provider may configure thetelevision receiver such that the recording of the omnibus channel filesoccur according to the schedule selected by the television serviceprovider.

At step 715, a non-segmented bookmark file corresponding to the omnibuschannel file may be created and stored. Because this bookmark filecontains information on each television program present within theomnibus channel file, the bookmark file may be referred to as a(non-segmented) omnibus bookmark file. Non-segmented indicates thatsegments within the bookmark file are not denoted. The non-segmentedomnibus bookmark file may be created based on information present withinan electronic programming guide (EPG) stored by the television receiver.According to EPG data, when an event transition occurs (one televisionprogram ending and another beginning) for the television channel beingrecorded, an entry may be made in the non-segmented omnibus bookmarkfile that indicates a file offset, a program identifier (which may becreated by the television receiver), and information about televisionprogram (e.g., title, description, series name, rating). The file offsetmay be based on the file size of the omnibus channel file (e.g.,measured in bytes) at the (approximate) time of the event transition.The omnibus bookmark file may be named to match the omnibus channelfile, with a different file extension (such as .bm).

In response to each event transition, an entry may be made within acatalog database maintained by the television receiver at step 720. Theentry in the catalog database may indicate at least: the programidentifier, a file name of the omnibus channel file (which may be namedafter the program identifier of the first television program recorded aspart of the omnibus channel file), and the file offset. Therefore, basedon the entry in the catalog database, information about the televisionprogram (via the non-segmented omnibus bookmark file) and the locationof the television program (via the filename of the omnibus channel fileand the file offset) may be determined. In some embodiments, rather thanan entry in the catalog database being made in response to each eventtransition, entries may be made for each program recorded as part of theomnibus channel file following the recording of the omnibus channel filebeing completed.

At step 725, data may be received to create a segmented bookmark filefor one or more television programs within the omnibus channel filecreated and stored at step 710. The data received at step 725 may bereceived from the television service provider, such as via a satellitetelevision distribution system. The data to create a segmented bookmarkfile may contain information sufficient to identify the correcttelevision program. This information may include a series identifier andan episode identifier. Such a series identifier and an episodeidentifier may have previously been received and stored for televisionprograms recorded as part of omnibus channel files. For instance, aseries identifier and an episode identifier may be present within theelectronic programming guide information for television programs; suchinformation may also be stored in the catalog database of the televisionreceiver. The data used to create a segmented bookmark file may alsoinclude a more accurate start time and end time of the televisionprogram. The start time and end time may be based on when the televisionprogram was actually broadcast. For example, an agent monitoring thetelevision channel for the television service provider may record whenthe television program actually begins and ends. The start and end timemay vary from the scheduled start and end times indicated in the EPGinformation stored by the television receiver. Additionally, the datamay indicate segments of the television program. These segments may beportions of the television program that exclude interspersed televisioncommercials.

At step 730, a segmented bookmark file may be created for the televisionprogram using the data received at step 725. The segmented bookmark filemay be specific to a television program. The segmented bookmark file maybe stored on the storage arrangement used for storing the omnibuschannel file that was stored at step 710. It should be understood that asegmented bookmark file may be created for each television programstored in the omnibus channel file. Further, it should be understoodthat the data necessary to create the segmented bookmark file receivedat step 725 may be received a period of time after the non-segmentedbookmark file is created at step 715. For example, the data to create asegmented bookmark file at step 725 may not be provided to thetelevision receiver until an hour, a day, or some other period of timeafter the non-segmented bookmark file and the omnibus channel file havebeen created and stored.

At step 732, if a television program of the omnibus channel file is tobe saved, user input indicating that a television program of the omnibuschannel file is to be saved may be received by the television receiver.For example, via the EPG of the television receiver, a user may select atelevision program for saving. An indication of the user input may bestored as a flag in the catalog database. Each entry within the catalogdatabase corresponding to a television program of an omnibus channelfile may have a flag bit (or some other form of indicator) thatindicates whether the television program associated with the entry inthe catalog database is to be saved or not. Accordingly, in response touser input indicating the television program is to be saved, the entrycorresponding to the television program may be updated to reflect thesaving designation in the catalog database.

Step 735 may be performed when the predetermined amount of time forwhich the omnibus channel file is to be saved has elapsed. For example,step 735 may be performed approximately two weeks after the omnibuschannel file is recorded and stored at step 710 (other periods of timeare also possible). At step 735, a determination may be made as towhether one or more of the television programs present within theomnibus channel file are to be saved. Determining whether one or moretelevision programs present within the omnibus channel file are to besaved may include analyzing the catalog database stored by thetelevision receiver. For each entry of the television program is storedwithin the omnibus channel file, a field within the catalog database maybe examined. This field may be a single bit that indicates whether ornot the television program is to be saved.

If at step 735 it is determined that no television programs within theomnibus channel file were marked for saving, method 700 may proceed tostep 775. At step 775, the omnibus channel file, the non-segmentedomnibus bookmark file, and each segmented bookmark file corresponding totelevision programs within the omnibus channel file may be deleted, suchthat the television programs stored within the omnibus channel file areno longer available. At step 780, the catalog database may be updatedsuch that entries are no longer present for the television programswhich are stored as part of the omnibus channel file.

Returning to step 735, if one or more television programs within theomnibus channel file were marked for saving, method 700 may proceed tostep 740. For the remainder of method 700, it is assumed that a singletelevision program of the omnibus channel file was selected for savingand was so indicated in the catalog database. It should be understoodthat in other embodiments more than one television program from withinthe omnibus channel file may be marked for saving.

In some embodiments, a user may have the ability to select that channelarrays are to no longer be recorded and/or stored. (This may be desiredbecause the user would rather have additional storage space for specifictelevision programs the user desires to record.) A user providing suchan input to the television receiver may trigger step 735 to be performedfor some or all television programs within omnibus channel files storedby the television receiver.

At step 740, it may be determined if a segmented bookmark file isavailable for the television program determined to be saved. Todetermine whether a segmented bookmark file is available, a file havinga file name of the program identifier with a particular file extension(e.g., .seg) may be searched for. If the file exists, it may bedetermined that the segmented bookmark file is available; otherwise, itis not. In some situations, data used to create a segmented bookmarkfile may not have been received for a particular television program. Insuch situations, method 700 may proceed to step 770. At step 770, theportion of the omnibus channel file corresponding to the televisionprogram may be copied or moved to an individual program file. Theindividual program file may be stored to a separate storage arrangement,such as a separate storage device, a separate partition of a hard drive,or a separate folder on the same storage device (other ways ofmaintaining such files may also be possible). As such, individualprogram files may be stored to a separate storage arrangement fromomnibus channel files. Accordingly, this may mean that storage to afirst partition is managed by the television service provider whilestorage to a second partition is based on user selection of televisionprograms for storage. The portion of the omnibus channel file stored maybe based on the file offsets stored in the non-segmented bookmark filecreated at step 715 and/or the file offsets stored in the catalogdatabase. Using these file offsets, which may be obtained from eitherthe bookmark file or the catalog database, a start point and endpointfor the television program within the omnibus channel file may bedetermined. It should be understood that this start point and endpointfor the television program may be based on EPG data, which was receivedby the television receiver before the television program was broadcast.As such, the start and end times may be approximate and may not matchwith the actual start and end point of the television program asbroadcast on the television channel. Accordingly, the individual programfile may begin before or after the start of the television program;likewise, the end of the individual program file may be before the endof the television program or after the end of the television program.

In some embodiments, step 770 may involve side-loading to a separateplayback device (e.g., a cellphone, gaming device, tablet computer,laptop computer). Side-loading may similarly involve the portion of theomnibus channel file (and possibly the portion of the omnibus bookmarkfile being stored to the playback device as described above.Additionally, transcoding may be performed to place the stored audioand/or video in a format appropriate for the separate playback device.For instance, for a cellular phone having a small screen, a reducedresolution may be used for the video stored to the separate playbackdevice. Due to copyright laws, whenever a copy of a television programis copied to a separate playback device, the television program may beremoved from the television receiver regardless of whether deletion ofthe television program from the television receiver is scheduled tooccur. In other embodiments, having multiple copies may be permissible.Side-loading may also occur after step 770. If performed after step 770,the individual file(s) for the television program may be transcoded andmoved or copied to the separate playback device.

Returning to step 740, it may be determined that a segmented bookmarkfile corresponding to the television program marked for saving isavailable. As such, method 700 may proceed to step 745. At step 745, theportion of the omnibus channel file to be stored as an individualprogram file may be determined based on a start and end time indicatedin the segmented bookmark file. Within the segmented bookmark file, oneor more segments may be defined. Each segment may be defined as apositive and negative frame offset from a base frame. The base frame maybe identified based on associated closed captioning data. For instance,the unique strength which can be located in the closed captioning datamay be used to identify the base frame. Such data necessary to define asegment may have been provided to the television receiver as part of thedata necessary to create a segmented bookmark file at step 725. Thesesegments defined by the segmented bookmark file may result in adifferent start and/or end time of the television program. In someembodiments, additional buffer time is built into (or added to) thesestart and/or end times. For instance, due to limitations of MPEGencoding, playback may be required to begin on an I-frame. As such byadding additional time before the start time of the television program,it may be more likely that an I-frame will occur before the televisionprogram beginning Therefore, a start and end time as indicated by thesegmented bookmark file and possibly additional buffer time may be usedto determine the portion of the omnibus channel file to be stored as theindividual program file. In embodiments where a segmented bookmark fileis available, file offsets indicated within the non-segmented bookmarkfile may not be used to determine the portion of the omnibus channelfile that is transferred into the individual program file. Theindividual program file created from the portion of the omnibus channelfile at step 745 may be stored to a separate storage arrangement fromthe omnibus channel file.

Side-loading to a separate playback device may occur as part of orfollowing step 745. Side-loading may similarly involve the portion ofthe omnibus channel file (and possibly the portion of the omnibusbookmark file) being stored to the playback device. The segmentedbookmark program file may also be transferred to the separate playbackdevice such that segments can be skipped from playback on the separateplayback device that contain commercials or other undesired content.Additionally, transcoding may be performed to place the stored audioand/or video in a format appropriate for the separate playback device.For instance, for a cellular phone having a small screen, a reducedresolution may be used for the video stored to the separate playbackdevice. Due to copyright laws, whenever a copy of a television programis copied to a separate playback device, the television program may beremoved from the television receiver regardless of whether deletion ofthe television program from the television receiver is scheduled tooccur. In other embodiments, having multiple copies may be permissible.

At step 755, the segmented bookmark file associated with the televisionprogram to be saved may be transferred from the storage arrangement usedto store the omnibus channel file to another storage arrangement that isused to store the individual program file.

At step 765, from the non-segmented omnibus bookmark file, an individualnon-segmented bookmark file may be created for the television program.The non-segmented individual bookmark file may also be stored to adifferent storage arrangement along with the individual program file andthe transferred segmented bookmark file. The non-segmented individualbookmark file may contain only metadata that corresponds to theparticular television program. Based on the file offset of thetelevision program to be saved, the metadata to be saved for thetelevision program may be identified from within the omnibus bookmarkfile. As such, following step 765, an individual program file, anon-segmented individual bookmark file, and a segmented bookmark filemay be stored for the television program selected by the user for savingto a user-controlled storage arrangement.

At step 775, the omnibus channel file and the non-segmented omnibusbookmark file may be deleted. At step 780, the catalog database may beupdated. Updating the catalog database may include removing entries forthe television programs stored as part of the omnibus channel file.Further, updating the catalog database may include modifying theexisting entry for the television program saved to the individual file.Such modification may include updating the file offset (which may bezero because the television program is in a file containing only thetelevision program) and updating the file name and/or location such thatthe catalog database entry for the television program points to theindividual program file containing the television program. In someembodiments, rather than modifying the existing entry for the televisionprogram, the existing entry for the television program may be deleted ina new entry in the catalog database may be created.

Playback of the television program may be available until the userselects the television program for deletion. Playback of the televisionprogram may be based on segments indicated within the segmented bookmarkfile. Such segments may avoid commercial breaks interspersed within thetelevision program. Information about the television program, such as atitle and description, may be available within the non-segmentedbookmark file for the television program.

Whether a television program is stored in an omnibus channel file or ina separate program file, a user may request playback via the DVRfunctionality of the television receiver. If playback of a televisionprogram is requested by a user, the catalog database may be used tolocate the recording for playback. Playback of a television program froman omnibus channel file may involve the catalog database being used todetermine the omnibus channel file in which the television programrequested by the user is stored and a file offsets at which thetelevision program begins within the omnibus channel file. Bookmark dataabout the television program may be accessed from the omnibus bookmarkfile. If a television program has been copied to an individual file, thecatalog database may point to that file for playback (no offsetindication may be necessary because only the television program ispresent in the individual file). A corresponding bookmark file may bepresent for the individual file. If a segmented bookmark file isavailable for the television program for which playback is requested,the segmented bookmark file may be used to skip undesirable content(e.g., commercials) and/or adjust the start/end times of playback of thetelevision program, whether the television program is played back froman omnibus channel file or from an individual program file.

A computer system as illustrated in FIG. 8 may be incorporated as partof the previously described computerized devices. For example, computersystem 800 can represent some of the components of the televisionreceivers (e.g., set top boxes) discussed herein. Further, computersystem 800 may be part of a television service provider system. FIG. 8provides a schematic illustration of one embodiment of a computer system800 that can perform the methods provided by various embodiments. Itshould be noted that FIG. 8 is meant only to provide a generalizedillustration of various components, any or all of which may be utilizedas appropriate. FIG. 8, therefore, broadly illustrates how individualsystem elements may be implemented in a relatively separated orrelatively more integrated manner.

The computer system 800 is shown comprising hardware elements that canbe electrically coupled via a bus 805 (or may otherwise be incommunication, as appropriate). The hardware elements may include one ormore processors 810, including without limitation one or moregeneral-purpose processors and/or one or more special-purpose processors(such as digital signal processing chips, graphics accelerationprocessors, and/or the like); one or more input devices 815, which caninclude without limitation a mouse, a keyboard, and/or the like; and oneor more output devices 820, which can include without limitation adisplay device, a printer, and/or the like.

The computer system 800 may further include (and/or be in communicationwith) one or more non-transitory storage devices 825, which cancomprise, without limitation, local and/or network accessible storage,and/or can include, without limitation, a disk drive, a drive array, anoptical storage device, a solid-state storage device, such as a randomaccess memory (“RAM”), and/or a read-only memory (“ROM”), which can beprogrammable, flash-updateable and/or the like. Such storage devices maybe configured to implement any appropriate data stores, includingwithout limitation, various file systems, database structures, and/orthe like.

The computer system 800 might also include a communications subsystem830, which can include without limitation a modem, a network card(wireless or wired), an infrared communication device, a wirelesscommunication device, and/or a chipset (such as a Bluetooth™ device, an802.11 device, a WiFi device, a WiMax device, cellular communicationfacilities, etc.), and/or the like. The communications subsystem 830 maypermit data to be exchanged with a network (such as the networkdescribed below, to name one example), other computer systems, and/orany other devices described herein. In many embodiments, the computersystem 800 will further comprise a working memory 835, which can includea RAM or ROM device, as described above.

The computer system 800 also can comprise software elements, shown asbeing currently located within the working memory 835, including anoperating system 840, device drivers, executable libraries, and/or othercode, such as one or more application programs 845, which may comprisecomputer programs provided by various embodiments, and/or may bedesigned to implement methods, and/or configure systems, provided byother embodiments, as described herein. Merely by way of example, one ormore procedures described with respect to the method(s) discussed abovemight be implemented as code and/or instructions executable by acomputer (and/or a processor within a computer); in an aspect, then,such code and/or instructions can be used to configure and/or adapt ageneral purpose computer (or other device) to perform one or moreoperations in accordance with the described methods.

A set of these instructions and/or code might be stored on anon-transitory computer-readable storage medium, such as thenon-transitory storage device(s) 825 described above. In some cases, thestorage medium might be incorporated within a computer system, such ascomputer system 800. In other embodiments, the storage medium might beseparate from a computer system (e.g., a removable medium, such as acompact disc), and/or provided in an installation package, such that thestorage medium can be used to program, configure, and/or adapt a generalpurpose computer with the instructions/code stored thereon. Theseinstructions might take the form of executable code, which is executableby the computer system 800 and/or might take the form of source and/orinstallable code, which, upon compilation and/or installation on thecomputer system 800 (e.g., using any of a variety of generally availablecompilers, installation programs, compression/decompression utilities,etc.), then takes the form of executable code.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that substantialvariations may be made in accordance with specific requirements. Forexample, customized hardware might also be used, and/or particularelements might be implemented in hardware, software (including portablesoftware, such as applets, etc.), or both. Further, connection to othercomputing devices such as network input/output devices may be employed.

As mentioned above, in one aspect, some embodiments may employ acomputer system (such as the computer system 800) to perform methods inaccordance with various embodiments of the invention. According to a setof embodiments, some or all of the procedures of such methods areperformed by the computer system 800 in response to processor 810executing one or more sequences of one or more instructions (which mightbe incorporated into the operating system 840 and/or other code, such asan application program 845) contained in the working memory 835. Suchinstructions may be read into the working memory 835 from anothercomputer-readable medium, such as one or more of the non-transitorystorage device(s) 825. Merely by way of example, execution of thesequences of instructions contained in the working memory 835 mightcause the processor(s) 810 to perform one or more procedures of themethods described herein.

The terms “machine-readable medium” and “computer-readable medium,” asused herein, refer to any medium that participates in providing datathat causes a machine to operate in a specific fashion. In an embodimentimplemented using the computer system 800, various computer-readablemedia might be involved in providing instructions/code to processor(s)810 for execution and/or might be used to store and/or carry suchinstructions/code. In many implementations, a computer-readable mediumis a physical and/or tangible storage medium. Such a medium may take theform of a non-volatile media or volatile media. Non-volatile mediainclude, for example, optical and/or magnetic disks, such as thenon-transitory storage device(s) 825. Volatile media include, withoutlimitation, dynamic memory, such as the working memory 835.

Common forms of physical and/or tangible computer-readable mediainclude, for example, a floppy disk, a flexible disk, hard disk,magnetic tape, or any other magnetic medium, a CD-ROM, any other opticalmedium, punchcards, papertape, any other physical medium with patternsof holes, a RAM, a PROM, EPROM, a FLASH-EPROM, any other memory chip orcartridge, or any other medium from which a computer can readinstructions and/or code.

Various forms of computer-readable media may be involved in carrying oneor more sequences of one or more instructions to the processor(s) 810for execution. Merely by way of example, the instructions may initiallybe carried on a magnetic disk and/or optical disc of a remote computer.A remote computer might load the instructions into its dynamic memoryand send the instructions as signals over a transmission medium to bereceived and/or executed by the computer system 800.

The communications subsystem 830 (and/or components thereof) generallywill receive signals, and the bus 805 then might carry the signals(and/or the data, instructions, etc. carried by the signals) to theworking memory 835, from which the processor(s) 810 retrieves andexecutes the instructions. The instructions received by the workingmemory 835 may optionally be stored on a non-transitory storage device825 either before or after execution by the processor(s) 810.

It should further be understood that the components of computer system800 can be distributed across a network. For example, some processingmay be performed in one location using a first processor while otherprocessing may be performed by another processor remote from the firstprocessor. Other components of computer system 800 may be similarlydistributed.

The methods, systems, and devices discussed above are examples. Variousconfigurations may omit, substitute, or add various procedures orcomponents as appropriate. For instance, in alternative configurations,the methods may be performed in an order different from that described,and/or various stages may be added, omitted, and/or combined. Also,features described with respect to certain configurations may becombined in various other configurations. Different aspects and elementsof the configurations may be combined in a similar manner. Also,technology evolves and, thus, many of the elements are examples and donot limit the scope of the disclosure or claims.

Specific details are given in the description to provide a thoroughunderstanding of example configurations (including implementations).However, configurations may be practiced without these specific details.For example, well-known circuits, processes, algorithms, structures, andtechniques have been shown without unnecessary detail in order to avoidobscuring the configurations. This description provides exampleconfigurations only, and does not limit the scope, applicability, orconfigurations of the claims. Rather, the preceding description of theconfigurations will provide those skilled in the art with an enablingdescription for implementing described techniques. Various changes maybe made in the function and arrangement of elements without departingfrom the spirit or scope of the disclosure.

Also, configurations may be described as a process which is depicted asa flow diagram or block diagram. Although each may describe theoperations as a sequential process, many of the operations can beperformed in parallel or concurrently. In addition, the order of theoperations may be rearranged. A process may have additional steps notincluded in the figure. Furthermore, examples of the methods may beimplemented by hardware, software, firmware, middleware, microcode,hardware description languages, or any combination thereof. Whenimplemented in software, firmware, middleware, or microcode, the programcode or code segments to perform the necessary tasks may be stored in anon-transitory computer-readable medium such as a storage medium.Processors may perform the described tasks.

Having described several example configurations, various modifications,alternative constructions, and equivalents may be used without departingfrom the spirit of the disclosure. For example, the above elements maybe components of a larger system, wherein other rules may takeprecedence over or otherwise modify the application of the invention.Also, a number of steps may be undertaken before, during, or after theabove elements are considered. Accordingly, the above description doesnot bind the scope of the claims.

1. (canceled)
 2. A television receiver, comprising: a tuner; one or moreprocessors; and a non-transitory computer-readable storage mediumcommunicatively coupled with and readable by the one or more processorsand having stored therein processor-readable instructions which, whenexecuted by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processorsto: create an omnibus channel file comprising a plurality of recordingsof television programs that were broadcast consecutively on a televisionchannel received via the tuner; select the omnibus channel file fordeletion after a predefined period of time has elapsed; store a bookmarkfile that identifies content within the omnibus channel file identifiedas corresponding to the television program; determine a televisionprogram of the plurality of television programs that is to receiveextended storage beyond the predefined period of time; and store aportion of the omnibus channel file as a separate program file such thatinformation from the bookmark file is used to define the start and endof the portion stored to the separate individual program file from theomnibus channel file, wherein the television program is the onlytelevision program stored to the separate program file.
 3. Thetelevision receiver of claim 2, wherein the processor-readableinstructions, when executed by the one or more processors, are furtherconfigured to cause the one or more processors to: receive auser-provided indication that requests extended storage of thetelevision program of the plurality of television programs, wherein: theprocessor-readable instructions, which are configured to cause the oneor more processors to determine the television program of the pluralityof television programs that is to receive extended storage, is based onthe user-provided indication in performing the determination.
 4. Thetelevision receiver of claim 2, wherein the processor-readableinstructions, when executed by the one or more processors, are furtherconfigured to cause the one or more processors to: create the bookmarkfile based upon electronic programming guide (EPG) information stored bythe television receiver.
 5. The television receiver of claim 4, whereinthe processor-readable instructions that, when executed, cause the oneor more processors to create the bookmark file compriseprocessor-readable instructions which, when executed, cause the one ormore processors to: create the bookmark file using file offsetmeasurements made according to the EPG information stored by thetelevision receiver.
 6. The television receiver of claim 5, wherein theprocessor-readable instructions, when executed by the one or moreprocessors, are further configured to cause the one or more processorsto: delete the bookmark file in response to the predefined period oftime having elapsed.
 7. The television receiver of claim 2, wherein theprocessor-readable instructions, when executed by the one or moreprocessors, are further configured to cause the one or more processorsto: receive the bookmark file from a television service provider via thetuner, wherein the bookmark file defines a plurality of content segmentswithin the omnibus channel file as corresponding to the televisionprogram.
 8. The television receiver of claim 7, wherein theprocessor-readable instructions, when executed by the one or moreprocessors, are further configured to cause the one or more processorsto: output for presentation the individual program file; and skippingfrom outputting for presentation a portion of the individual programfile based on the plurality of content segments defined within thebookmark file.
 9. The television receiver of claim 7, wherein theportion of the individual program file comprises one or more televisioncommercials.
 10. The television receiver of claim 7, wherein thebookmark files defines the portion of the individual program file basedon one or more offsets from a defined string of characters present inclosed captioning data of the television program.
 11. A method forselectively storing content, comprising: creating, by a televisionreceiver, an omnibus channel file comprising a plurality of recordingsof television programs that were broadcast consecutively on a televisionchannel; selecting, by the television receiver, the omnibus channel filefor deletion after a predefined period of time has elapsed; storing, bythe television receiver, a bookmark file that identifies content withinthe omnibus channel file identified as corresponding to the televisionprogram; determining, by the television receiver, a television programof the plurality of television programs that is to receive extendedstorage beyond the predefined period of time; and storing, by thetelevision receiver, a portion of the omnibus channel file as a separateprogram file such that information from the bookmark file is used todefine the start and end of the portion stored to the separateindividual program file from the omnibus channel file, wherein thetelevision program is the only television program stored to the separateprogram file.
 12. The method for selectively storing content of claim11, further comprising: receiving, by the television receiver, auser-provided indication that requests extended storage of thetelevision program of the plurality of television programs, wherein:determining the television program of the plurality of televisionprograms that is to receive extended storage is based on theuser-provided indication.
 13. The method for selectively storing contentof claim 11, further comprising: creating, by the television receiver,the bookmark file based upon electronic programming guide (EPG)information stored by the television receiver.
 14. The method forselectively storing content of claim 13, further comprising: creating,by the television receiver, the bookmark file using file offsetmeasurements made according to the EPG information stored by thetelevision receiver.
 15. The method for selectively storing content ofclaim 14, further comprising: deleting, by the television receiver, thebookmark file in response to the predefined period of time havingelapsed.
 16. The method for selectively storing content of claim 11,further comprising: receiving, by the television receiver, the bookmarkfile from a television service provider via the tuner, wherein thebookmark file defines a plurality of content segments within the omnibuschannel file as corresponding to the television program.
 17. The methodfor selectively storing content of claim 16, further comprising:outputting, by the television receiver, to a display device, theindividual program file; and skipping from outputting for presentation aportion of the individual program file based on the plurality of contentsegments defined within the bookmark file.
 18. The method forselectively storing content of claim 11, wherein the bookmark filesdefines the portion of the individual program file based on one or moreoffsets from a defined string of characters present in closed captioningdata of the television program.
 19. A non-transitory processor-readablemedium comprising processor-readable instructions configured to causeone or more processors to: create an omnibus channel file comprising aplurality of recordings of television programs that were broadcastconsecutively on a television channel received via the tuner; select theomnibus channel file for deletion after a predefined period of time haselapsed; store a bookmark file that identifies content within theomnibus channel file identified as corresponding to the televisionprogram; determine a television program of the plurality of televisionprograms that is to receive extended storage beyond the predefinedperiod of time; and store a portion of the omnibus channel file as aseparate program file such that information from the bookmark file isused to define the start and end of the portion stored to the separateindividual program file from the omnibus channel file, wherein thetelevision program is the only television program stored to the separateprogram file.
 20. The non-transitory processor-readable medium of claim19, wherein the processor-readable instructions are further configuredto cause the one or more processors to: receive the bookmark file from atelevision service provider via the tuner, wherein the bookmark filedefines a plurality of content segments within the omnibus channel fileas corresponding to the television program.
 21. The non-transitoryprocessor-readable medium of claim 20, wherein the processor-readableinstructions are further configured to cause the one or more processorsto: output for presentation the individual program file; and skippingfrom outputting for presentation a portion of the individual programfile based on the plurality of content segments defined within thebookmark file.